LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, j 

Shelf ' ' 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



ffi 


Xt?\^ 


m 



' TltTOI5»^P(EEDLMafO%^ERIEi^. f(o. 




S.'B^CTiltor^Co. 



DESIGNS IN OUTLINE FOR ART-NEEDLEWORK. 



FIRST 
SERIES. 



SECOND 
SERIES. 



THIRD 
SERIES. 



FOURTH 
SERIES 



FIFTH 
SERIES. 



1. DwAKF AiiCTOTls Mantelpiece Border ... 9 inches wide 

2. White-Mountain Daffouill . Chair-Back 14 x 19 inches. 

3. Dahlia Banner-Screen 11 x 15 " 

4. Clematis Chair 8x21 " 

5. Peach-Blossom Tea-Cloth 5 inches wide. 

6. Chekry Tea-Cosey 9x16 inches. 

This series sent by mail on receipt of price, 75 cents. 

' 7. Black-Spotted Nemophylla . Blotting-Book S x i& inches. 

I 8. CiSTUS Carriage-Blanket ... 14 x 18 " 

' 9. Cornflower Chair-Back 13 x 19 '• 

10. Morning-Glory, Impo.mcea . . Cushion 12 x 15 " 

11. Roses ( ^ , 1 x-. • ,^ ■ o << 
L 12 Roses ( Double Design Curtain o x 30 

This series sent by mail on receipt of price, 75 cents. 

13. Flax Lawn-Tennis Costume . . 1 inch wide. 

14. ToBACCO-P" lower Smoking-Coat " " 

15 Myrtle and Maidenhair . . . Parasol " " 

16. Cowslip and Primrose .... Table-Cloth 6 inches" 

17. Pomegranate Border 7 " " 

18. Poppies and Corn Evening Dress i inch •' 

This series sent by mail on receipt of price, 75 cents. 

Hops and Ox-Eyed Daisies . . Panel 12 x 20 inches. 

. Crown Imperial Chair-Seat 13 x 13 

22 Violets I ^°"'^'^ Pattern . . . L;nvn-Tennis Apron . . 

Cyclamen I'oilet-Cover, &c. . . . 6 x n " 

lies Panel 13 x " " 

This series sijiit by mail on receipt of price, 75 cents. 

25. Peacock's Feather 8 x i . 

26. Stork and Cat-Tails 13 x 20 

27. Hokse-Shoe AND Border Pansies 4iiichesw.i.. . 

28. Oranges and Blossoms 7 x 20 inches. 

29. Japanese Design for Four Corners of 'I'ea-Cloth . . 12 x 20 " 

30. Japanese Design for D'Oylrys 12 x 20 " 

This series sent by mail on receipt of price, 75 cents. 



^TH j i; 

(22. Vl 
23. Cy 
24. Li 



Instructions in Drawing, Tracing, and Transferring Patterns, Coloring, with directions 
lor Stitch, &c., accompany each series. 



Any of the above designs may be had separately, colored by hand, fjr a working 
pattern. Price, 30 cents each. 

S. W TILTON & CO., Publishers, Boston. 



For sale at our Office, 333 Washington Street, up one flight; or sent by mail to any 
address on receipt of price. 



■fS. ^ IN PREPARATION: 

-. '•'' \ yi Sc-ries cf Designs for Church Emhroiderv. 

li'i 



K 



<!' 



ART-NEEDLEWORK 

FOR 

DECORATIVE EMBROIDERY: 



GUIDE TO EMBROIDERY IN CREWELS, 
SILKS, APPLIQUE, ETC.; 



INSTRUCTIONS AS TO STITCHES, AND EXPLANATORY 
DIAGRAMS. 

CONTAINING ALSO 

A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ART OF EMBROIDERY, 

Reprinted, with Additions, from the English, 

EDITED BY 

LUCRETIA P. HALE. 



SECOND EDITION, REVISBpT ,,0 Qj < 

BOSTON: ^^=^t;r!^'' 
S. W. TILTON & COMPANY. 
1879. 



-1 ^ 

TILTON'S NEEDLEWORK SERIES. 



No. I. 

ART-NEEDLEWORK FOR DECORATIVE EMBROI- 
DERY. A Guide to Embroidery in Crewels, Silks, Applique, 
&c., with illustrated instructions as to Stitches, Satin Stitch and 
South Kensington Stitch. Also several designs for Patterns. 
Edited by LucRm-iA P. Hale. Price 50 cts. 

No. II. 

ART-NEEDLEWORK. — POINT-LACE. With illustrations 
of Stitches and Valuable Patterns. By Lucretia P. Hale. 
Price ^ 50 cts. 

No. III. 

ART NEEDLEWORK, MORE STITCHES FOR DECO- 
RATIVE EMBROIDERY. Containing Holbein. Punto Tirato 
(drawn work), Vienna Cross Stitch, Double Piatt Stitch, and 
Cordonnet, and eighty illustrations and patterns. By LucRETiA 
P. Halk. Price 50 cts. 

/ No. IV. 

PLAIN NEEDLEWORK, MENDING, KNITTING, AND 
DARNING FOR ALL, at Home and in Schools; giving in- 
struction in Plain Sewing, &c., the Management of Classes, with 
twenty illustrations. Compiled from the best English works on 
these subjects, with some additional suggestions by the American 
editor. Edited by Lucretia P. Hale. Price 50 cts 

Any book on our list sent by mail, postpaid, on receipt of price. 

S. W. TiLTON & Co., 

Publishers, 333 'Washington Street, Boston. 



Copyright. 
S. W. TILTON & CO. 

187S. 



PREFACE. 



IN making use of the valuable book on Art-Needlework, pub- 
lished in London by E. Mase, the American editors take 
occasion to make many additions. 

Materials that can be bought here are suggested, and the 
descriptions of stitches are made more clear. In the History 
of Embroidery, some account of work in our country is given 
also. We believe the book will be of value to all desirous to 
perfect themselves in this work. . L. P. H. 



Practical instructions in the art of embroidery have been ren- 
dered necessary by the revolution in needlework that has taken 
place during the last few years. Berlin-wools have been sup- 
planted by crewels, and cross stitch and tent-stitch are superseded 
by that used in the old tapestries. 

The difficulty that is inseparable from what is new is added 
to in this case by the great difference in the mode of working. 
In Berlin-work each stitch has its model in the copy, and not a 
single original idea is required to have a place in the mind of the 
worker. In art-needlework, however, the copy gives only out- 
lines ; and these must be filled in and colored, not only by the 
worker's fingers, but by her mind. It is, in fact, " painting in 



iv PREFACE. 

wools," and is as much more difficult than Berlin-work as it is 
superior in its results. 

It is hoped that this little book will not only assist the novice 
to master the difficulties of the initiatory steps, but that it may 
also serve as a guide to the more advanced, as regards coloring, 
choice of material, and those minor matters of detail, which, 
taken as a whole, are of great importance to the effect of the 
work. 



PUBLISHERS' NOTE. 

The pubHshers are indebted to Messrs. N. D. Whitney & Co., 
of Boston, for the use of the frames and implements which are 
figured in this book. The illustration of Penelope, next to p. 5, 
is one of a series of twenty of Flaxman's celebrated designs issued 
for decorators and art-students. (See advertisement on another 
page.) "The Age of Fable" alluded to in these pages is a vol- 
ume giving the stories of the mythological characters which are 
brought into every kind of decoration : these stories are intensely 
interesting, besides giving a large amount of valuable information 
to decorators. " Greek Ornament " is Part I. of Tilton's " Hand- 
books of Decorative Form," illustrated with twelve plates printed 
in the original colors, edited by William R. Ware, Professor of 
Architecture in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. On 
p. 59 is a caution not to mix the style of one epoch or nationality 
with another. " Greek Ornament " gives the pure Greek forms. 

The publishers of this book have in preparation other works on 

needlework, and will send circulars of the same to any who will 

send their address. 

S. W. TiLTON & Co., Boston. 



PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION. 



THE rapid sale of the first edition of this book shows that the 
purpose for which it was intended has been widely acknowl- 
edged. It has proved a valuable handbook for ornamental needle- 
work, not only in suggesting materials, but in describing the 
processes of the work which has awakened so deep an interest in 
every direction. 

There is a wide-spread enthusiasm for Art- embroidery. Schools 
are established in the larger towns, and help from books is wel- 
comed everywhere. The school at the Art Museum in Boston 
has met with gratifying success ; vacancies in the different classes 
are filled as soon as they appear, and there is a tasty and artistic 
atmosphere always in its attractive work-room. The rooms of the 
Decorative Art Society, too, show the advance in skill and taste in 
its contributors ; and the increasing number of visitors shows the 
same advance in the public outside. Many visit the room to get 
" ideas," and carry away suggestions for home-work ; while there 
are others more liberal, who are willing to pay for the skill and 
work of the contributors, and to give a solid help to the advance 
of decorative art. 

In all this, there is, perhaps, too much eagerness to acquire all 
these advantages easily by the help of other people's brains. A 
request too often comes for some " recipe " by which designs can 
be put upon work by any novice who can afford to buy crewels 
and crash. 

It should be remembered that this branch of decorative work is 



vi PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION. 

called ART-needlework, and that art is always long. There is no 
short road to artistic needlework. To design a little pattern an 
inch and a half long for a tidy requires thought, as well as skill in 
art, and experience in work. 

It must not be imagined that " conventional " work is in any 
way " easy " work. On the contrary, a skilled artist is needed to 
devise it, — one who has studied nature closely enough to learn 
what are the characteristic forms to be expressed. 

The workwoman, however, who is willing to be a mere copyist 
will find always in the schools instruction in the mechanical use 
of needle and crewels and color, and plenty of designs to occupy 
her hours. And for her, as well as those who cannot attend the 
schools, we hope that this handbook will provide all that is needed 
for the first steps in art-needlework. Experience, and cultivated 
taste, and study of art in every direction, will be required, how- 
ever, for further advance. 

Much of this, indeed, is needed in adapting the designs of 
others. For this there are certain laws that should be held always 
in mind. 

Keep always before your eyes the object and intention of your 
work, and ask yourself if the design that you propose will suit the 
material and the limits to which you must confine yourself. 

A " conventional design " is one that is brought into artistic 
form, which must always bear some reference to the object for 
which it is used. It should be presented without perspective, 
without modelling, when used for a flat surface, so that it may 
not appear to project from the background ; and the figures 
need not be brought together in apparently natural grouping, 
but should be subordinate to the form required. 

A more naturalistic treatment allows, for decoration of certain 
objects, the use of a few shades ; but even here the treatment 
should be as flat as possible. 

No general rules, however, can pretend to cover a subject so 
wide. These are only the leading principles intended to invite 
study of a matter for which it is impossible to prepare a few pre- 
scriptions. 



PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION. vii 

In the first edition some illustrations were given adapted from 
the English book, though they were not at the time considered 
perfectly satisfactory. 

In the new edition these are to be withdrawn, and in their 
place will be given some designs, many of them original to this 
work, of a simple character, and easily transferred to work. 

The publishers are at the same time issuing some valuable pack- 
ages of designs, with introductory instructions. 

They propose also to give a complete series of instruction in all 
the forms of needlework, including plain needlework, as well as 
point lace and the more ornamental branches. 

L. P. H. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

CHAPTER I. 
A Sketch of the History of Embroidery i 

CHAPTER II. 
Materials used in Colored Embroidery 23 

CHAPTER III. 
Implements 30 

CHAPTER IV. 
Method . 34 

CHAPTER V. 
Color and Design in Ornamental Needlework . . . -49 

CHAPTER VI. 



Description of Patterns. — Articles that may be Embroid- 
ered 61 

viii 



i 



ART- NEEDLEWORK. 



CHAPTER I. 

A SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF EMBROIDERY. 
I. — EMBROIDERY IN EARLY TIMES. 

THE art of colored embroidery, in which an interest 
is now being awakened, is but the revival of an art 
formerly existing, of which even in America we can find 
some traces. It had given way to the engrossing Berlin- 
wool work, which gave less scope to the artist, as it could be 
undertaken by any one willing to give time and patience 
to the work. The exquisite shades of the Berlin wools, 
and the gracefulness of many of the designs, need not be 
depreciated in the present rage for the ancient art of 
needlework. In its day it has called out talent and inspira- 
tion in preparing the patterns ; and, while neither of these 
were needed in their imitation, the hand and head of a 
workwoman of talent could still be detected in the choice 
of designs and adapting of colors, while the results of 
practice always appeared in the handiwork. 

But now the practice of the old embroidery is revived, 
and has become "a rage " everywhere. The schools estab- 
lished first in South Kensington, England, have given 
careful instruction to the art, to such an extent that the 



2 ART-NEEDLEWORK. 

work often goes by the name of " South Kensington em- 
broidery." 

This title, however, is likely to pass away, as we are 
making rapid progress in this country. The exhibition of 
embroidery at the Centennial awakened an interest here 
in this work, and schools are being established in our 
principal cities for instruction ; and the designs that are 
brought out are likely to rival those of the mother school 
of South Kensington. 

A "hand-book," too, has become a necessity for orna- 
mental needlework, to supply the place of teacher and 
school for those who are not in reach of either, and to 
give advice with regard to materials and designs. 

Embroidery is one of the oldest of the ornamental arts, 
and therefore nearly as old as some of the hills. Indeed, 
the love of decoration is so general, and so deeply rooted 
in human nature, that ornament may almost be called one 
of the necessaries of life ; and it would not be surprising 
if one day a piece of ornamental needlework should be 
discovered in some prehistoric cave, together with carved 
ivory tusks and horns. We need not, however, enter into 
speculations concerning the possible antiquity of the art 
of embroidery : we know that it had attained a very high 
degree of perfection at a very early period of the world's 
history ; and we must admit with some shame that it is 
probable that many thousand years ago embroidery was 
more skilfully executed and more artistically designed 
than has been the case even in England during the past 
quarter of a century. This is proved by a passage in the 
song in which Deborah celebrates the victory over Sisera, 
in which she, with a minuteness of detail truly feminine, 
makes the mother of Sisera exclaim, " Have they not 
sped ? Have they not divided their prey .-^ ... to Sisera 



I 



HISTORY OF EMBROIDERY. 3 

a prey of divers colors, of divers colors of needlework 
on both sides, meet for the necks of them that take the 
spoil," ^ By *' needlework on both sides,'' it is evidently 
meant that the stuff was so wrought that both sides were 
alike ; a kind of embroidery very difficult to execute, and 
requiring so very high a degree of skill and patience, that 
at this present day only races pre-eminently patient — the 
Hindoo, Chinese, and Japanese — practise this kind of 
work. 

In Egypt embroidery was very general : even the sails of 
the galleys were wrought with needlework. The dresses 
somewhat resembled in patterns the gay cretonnes and 
chintzes of modern times ; and though these patterns were 
probably often painted or printed or stencilled on the stuff, 
yet no doubt they were more often embroidered, the pat- 
terns being frequently outlined with gold. Applied work 
was probably in use ; the patterns being cut out, and then 
worked on to another stuff, in the same way as we do now 
with cretonne and satteen. Amasis, king of Egypt, we 
are told by Herodotus, gave to the Minerva of Lindus a 
linen corslet with figures inwoven in its fabric, which was, 
besides, embroidered with gold and wool. The gods of 
Egypt, too, had their vestments, and even changes of vest- 
ment, according to the different seasons. All were more 
or less richly wrought with needlework. 

Sir Gardner Wilkinson, in his work, "The Egyptians in 
the Time of the Pharaohs," gives drawings of some pieces 

1 Needlework and embroidery have in all ages been " a prey " to successful soldiers. The 
Queen of Wiirtemburg, we are told, saved her drawing-room furniture from the rapacity of 
Napoleon I. by telling him that it was embroidered by herself, whereas it had been worked 
at Lyons. The emperor, with some simplicity, took her word, and, with a well-founded dis- 
trust of the value of amateur-work, left her in the enjoyment of possession; but the queen 
was rather troubled in her conscience at having told a plain and straightforward and unvar- 
nished lie, for she was a pious princess, — a daughter of George HI., — and had been religiously 
brought up. English soldiers, too, have not been above "looting" needlework, as the Chinese 
in the last war could testify. 



4 ART-NEEDLEWORK. 

of Egyptian embroidery now in the Louvre. One has 
narrow red stripes on a broad yellow stripe, wrought with 
a pattern in needlework; another piece is on blue, and 
worked all over in white embroidery, in a kind of netting 
pattern, the meshes of which outline irregular cubic shapes. 
The Egyptians used both linen and cotton for their 
garments. 

A woollen material has taken the name of " mummy- 
cloth," from its resemblance in color to the cloths with 
which the mummies of Egypt were swathed. Its color, 
however, is probably due to the changes produced by time. 
The "mummy-cloth" now sold in the shops is admirably 
suited for embroidery, not only from its color, but its 
texture. 

The Israelites, who had profited by their sojourn in 
Egypt, and acquired much of the Egyptian civilization, did 
not neglect the art of embroidery. The description of 
the embroidery of the ark will recur to every mind. The 
chief embroiderer is even mentioned by name, Aholiab, 
"a cunning workman, and an embroiderer in blue and 
purple and scarlet and fine linen ; " and there can be little 
doubt that his profession was highly esteemed. The 
curtains of the tabernacle were of fine-twined linen, blue, 
purple, and scarlet, and embroidered with cherubim. The 
veil of the ark was also adorned with cherubim of "cun- 
ning work." The sacerdotal garments of Aaron and his 
son were also richly decorated : " upon the hems pome- 
granates of blue and purple, scarlet and twined linen." 
"And they made bells of pure gold, and put the bells 
between the pomegranates upon the hem of the robe." 

The art of twisting flattened wire round silk or linen 
threads was not practised till a much later date, so that 
what we understand by cloth of gold or silver was then 



HISTORY OF EMBROIDERY. 5 

unknown. Tyre was distinguished for the production of 
splendid works of the needle. Ezekiel thus apostrophizes 
that city : " Syria was thy merchant by reason of the 
multitude of the wares of thy making ; they occupied in 
thy fairs with emeralds, and purple and broidered work, 
and fine linen, and coral and agate." " Dedan was thy 
merchant in precious clothes for chariots. Haran and 
Cannech, and Eden, the merchants of Sheba, Asshur, and 
Chilmal, were thy merchants in all sorts of things, in blue 
cloths and broidered work, and chests of rich apparel, 
bound with cords, and made of cedar, among thy mer- 
chandise." 

In another verse we see that Tyre also imported needle- 
work : "Fine linen with broidered work from Egypt was 
that which thou spreadedst forth to be thy sail ; and blue 
and purple from the isles of Elisha was that which cov- 
ered thee." The pillows and cushions so mysteriously de- 
nounced by this prophet were probably very similar in 
design, if not in execution, to those with which fashionable 
industry now chokes up our drawing-rooms. 

The Greeks, as one would expect, liked embroidery, and 
used it both for their garments and in religious ceremonial. 
Penelope's web is proverbial. For not only did the Greek 
women embroider, but wove, the fabrics which they adorned. 
In these days steam-power takes this part of their work 
from the hands of women, and makes the fabric that they 
adorn ; but it cannot yet form a substitute for the genius 
of design and the more delicate traceries of the needle. 
Women, however, still stand by the looms of our large 
woollen and cotton mills, to guide their mechanism ; but a 
picture of such a Penelope can hardly be made as pictur- 
esque. Besides that immortal piece of work which was a 
shroud for her father-in-law, we read that Penelope also had 



6 ART-NEEDLEWORK. 

embroidered a garment for Ulysses, which represented an 
incident of the chase, — a dog seizing a deer, Helen, too, 
was in no way behindhand in this accomplishment : she 
is pictured as sitting apart, working on — 

" a gorgeous web, 
Inwrought with fiery conflicts for her sake 
Waged by contending nations." 

Andromache's fancy-work was, as might be expected, 
in a tamer style. She contented herself, sitting in her 
"chamber at the palace-top," with 

" A splendid texture, wrought on either side, 
All dazzling bright with flowers of various hues." 

According to Greek legend, a more exalted being, even 
the great Minerva herself, was addicted to needlework, 
which she loved, wisely perhaps, but still too well ; for she 
was a jealous goddess, and a mere mortal presuming to be 
excellent in the art — so excellent that in a competition 
with the goddess the latter only won by a neck — was 
very promptly punished for her pride. 

Arachne was the luckless maiden who had attained 
such skill in the arts of weaving and embroidery, that the 
nymphs themselves would leave their groves and foun- 
tains to come and gaze upon her work. " To watch her 
as she took the wool in its rude state, and formed it into 
rolls, or separated it with her fingers, and carded it till it 
looked as light and soft as a cloud, or twirled the spindle 
with skilful touch, or wove the web, or, after it was 
woven, adorned it with the needle, one would have said 
that Minerva herself had taught her." ^ 

In the contest between the two, a description is given 

* Age of Fable, by Bulfinch. 



HISTORY OF EMBROIDERY. 7 

by Ovid, of how the wool of Tyrian dye is contrasted 
with other colors, shaded off into one anotJicr so adroitly 
that the joining deceives the eye. It is this last effect of 
art, that the modern embroidery strives to reach ; " like 
the bow, whose long arch tinges the heavens, formed by 
sunbeams reflected from the shower, in which, when the 
colors meet, they seem as one, but, at a little distance 
from the point of contact, are wholly different." 

Alas, poor Arachne ! turned into a spider by her ruth- 
less rival, she still spins her thread, without the gorgeous 
colors that made so wondrous the work that incited the 
goddess's punishment. 

Spenser, in his " Muiopotmos," describes this competi- 
tion ; and, as his description gives a very good idea of the 
style of work that the ladies in his day executed for wall- 
hangings, we extract a few passages from the poem : — 

" Before the bull she pictured winged Love 
With his young brother Sport, light fluttering 
Upon the waves, as each had been a dove ; 



And many nymphs about them flocking round, 
And many Tritons with their horns did sound. 

And, round about, her work she did impale 
With a fair border wrought of sundry flowers, 
Inwoven with an ivy-winding trail, — 
A goodly work, full fit for kingly bowers." 

Pallas, who it would seem was rather partial to competi- 
tions, made 

" the story of the old debate 
Which she with Neptune did for Athens try : 
Twelve gods do sit around in royal state, 
And Jove in midst with awful majesty 
To judge the strife between them stirred late. 



8 AT? T-NEEDL E I VORK. 

Before them stands the god of seas in place, 
Claiming that seacoast city as his right, 
And strikes the rock with his three-forked mace, 
Whenceforth issues a warlike steed in sight, 
The sign by which he challenges the place. 

Then she set forth how with her weapon dread 

She smote the ground, the which straight forth did yield 

A fruitful olive-tree, with berries spread 

That all the gods admired ; then all the story 

She compassed with a wreath of olives hoary. 

Amongst these leaves she made a butterfly. 
With excellent device and wondrous sleight, 
Fluttering among the olives wantonly, 
That seemed to live, so like it was in sight 
The velvet nap which on his wings doth lie. 
The silken down with which his back is dight, 
His broad outstretched horns, his hairy thighs, 
His glorious colors, and his glistering eyes." 

The Greek ladies were greatly given to embroidery : 
like the ladies of the middle ages, they had little else to 
do. As they were excluded from nearly all the business 
and most of the pleasures of life, they staid at home and 
sewed. In nearly every house a room, which we should 
in modern parlance style a "studio," was set apart for em- 
broidery and even weaving ; and there they sat, and tried 
to cheat enmii with the needle and the shuttle. We will 
hope that they succeeded. Probably they did so to a 
much greater extent than we modern women can imagine, 
— we, a race of busybodies, who must be always gadding, 
and putting our fingers into every pie whether the dish be 
wholesome for us or not. 

The Greeks in their ornamentation of their temples 
showed an exquisite taste in the adaptation of colors, 
which the modern critics describe carefully.' Benld, the 

* Many specimens of this are given by Professor Ware in Greek Ornament. See Plates 
X., XI. 



HISTORY OF EMBROIDERY. 9 

French critic, in his hfe of Polygnotus, gives red, yellow, 
blue, and white as the colors used by the Greek painters 
in numberless combinations. These, we have seen, w^ere 
the colors adopted by the Israelites in their embroideries. 

The Romans, luxurious and magnificent in their tastes, 
loved embroidery and precious stuffs, which they imported 
from the East. Phrygia and Babylon were the centres of 
this commerce. The Romans had no other word for em- 
broiderer than Phrygian, " P/uygio: " needlework was called 
" P/i)ygium," or Phrygian stuff. Worked with gold, the 
mediaeval writers called it aiirifrigitun or aiirifrasuim, 
whence we have our old English word "orphreys," and 
"orfrais ; " embroidery, which is a word that came later into 
our terminology, being derived from the Celtic "bivud," 
a. prick or goad, and " drouda," to prick. 

In later times Byzantium sent a great deal of embroid- 
ery into Western Europe, particularly for ecclesiastical 
purposes, of which some specimens are still extant. The 
Roman Church has always loved splendor, and in those 
dark ages that followed the collapse of the Roman Em- 
pire she alone kept the lamp of art alight and glowing. 
She clothed her priests, even in those early times, in 
sacerdotal garments that would put to shame the highest 
efforts of the most advanced ritualists of the present day. 
Pope Paschal, who lived in the ninth century, was, Ave are 
told, a great amateur of needlework, and made many mag- 
nificent donations thereof to the Church. One of his vest- 
ments represented the wise virgins, with lighted torches 
marvellously worked thereon. Another was of an amber- 
colored ground, embroidered with peacocks in all the gor- 
geous tints and changeful colors of their splendid plumage. 
This pope would certainly not have had strength of mind 
sufficient to resist temptation if he had been exposed to so 



I O AR T-NEEDLE WORK. 

great a test as was Omar after the defeat of the Persians 
and the overthrow of the religion of Zoroaster. When the 
White Palace of Khosroes was pillaged, a most magnificent 
booty came into the hands of the rude Arabians. Among 
other things was a most extraordinary specimen of the em- 
broiderer's art. This was a carpet of silk and cloth of gold, 
sixty cubits square. A garden was depicted thereon, the 
figures of gold embroidery and the colors heightened by 
precious stones ; the ruby, the emerald, the sapphire, the 
beryl, the topaz, and the pearl being arranged with 
most consummate skill to represent, in beautiful mosaic, 
trees, fruit and flowers, rivulets, fountains, roses and shrubs 
of every description, which seemed to convey fragrance, 
and their foliage to charm the senses of the beholders. 
To this piece of exquisite luxury and illusion the Persians 
gave the name of " Baharistan," or " mansion of perpetual 
spring," which was an invention employed by their mon- 
archs as an artificial substitute for the loveliest of seasons. 
During the gloom of winter they were accustomed to 
regale the nobles of their court where art had supplied 
the absence of nature, and wherein the guests might trace 
a brilliant imitation of her faded beauties in the variegated 
colors of the jewelled and pictured floor. The Arabian 
general, Saad, persuaded his soldiers to relinquish their 
claim to it, in the reasonable hope that the eyes of the 
caliph would be delighted with this splendid combination 
of nature and skill. Regardless, however, of the merit of 
art and the pomp of royalty, the rigid Omar divided the 
prize among his brethren of Medina : the carpet was 
destroyed ; but such was the value of the materials, that 
the share of Ali alone was computed at twenty thousand 
drachms of gold, — nearly fifty thousand dollars. 



HISTORY OF EMBROIDERY. II 

II. EMBROIDERY IN ENGLAND. 

In the middle ages much of the most beautiful em- 
broidery was made in England, and called therefore, '^ opus 
Anglicanuni,'' which name came to be very generally 
bestowed upon gold embroidery, whether it had been 
executed within English seas or not. During the time 
of the Saxon rule in England, the art reached a high 
perfection, which may perhaps be accounted for by the 
fact that the Celtic element in the population was still 
very large. In proportion as the Anglo-Saxon race be- 
came predominant, the artistic tendencies of the people 
diminished. The beautiful opus Anglicamiin was pro- 
duced under the Anglo-Saxons, but probably not by them 
to any very great extent. Much of the work was done in 
convents and abbeys by religious men and women. Queen 
Matilda showed her appreciation of its beauty and value 
by extorting, as a present to herself from the monks of 
Abingdon, their richest church vestments. 

As a pendant to this instance of royal rapacity, we may 
here give an anecdote of Pope Innocent III., though the 
facts related therein occurred two centuries later. Seeing 
on the vestments of certain priests some very beautiful 
orfrays, he inquired whence they came ; and on being 
told, from England, he exclaimed, " Truly, England is our 
garden of delight : in sooth, it is a well inexhaustible ; 
and, where there is great abundance, from thence much 
may be extracted." And thereupon his Holiness sent 
official letters to nearly all the Cistercian abbots in the 
kingdom, and urged them to procure for his choir, for 
nothing if they could accomplish it, but if not to pur- 
chase, things so beautiful. An order which, says the 
chronicler, Matthew Paris, was pleasing enough to the 



12 ART-NEEDLEWORK. 

London merchants, but the cause of many detesting him 
for his covetousness. 

Queen Matilda has for some time had the reputation of 
being the author of the famous Bayeux tapestry, wliich, 
by the way, is not tapestry at all, but rather homely needle- 
work with crewels in long stitch on linen. However, the 
probability seems to be that this curious piece of work 
was done in the very capital of the conquered country by 
the order of three natives of Bayeux, men of no great 
distinction, Turold, Vital, and Wadard, and sent as an 
offering to the cathedral of their native place. 

It is even asserted that the Bayeux tapestry, which now 
adorns the nave of the cathedral, is really the production 
of a later time ; a learned expert in archaeological matters 
assigning its date to the early part of the twelfth century. 
Tennyson's play of " Harold " would be illustrated by this 
tapestry, as the Norman conquest forms the subject of its 
pictures. A fragment of this curious piece of work may 
be seen in the South Kensington Museum, where visitors 
may judge for themselves whether it is likely that such 
common material would have been chosen by a great and 
wealthy queen, wherewith to depict her husband's great 
achievements. 

Scattered through mediaeval literature and public and 
royal records, are notices and allusions which show to 
what a great extent the trade in embroidery was carried 
on. The names of some of the chief artists are given us. 
In the reign of Edward III., we find payment made to 
John de Colonia towards the cost of two vests of green 
velvet, embroidered with gold, one of which was decorated 
with sea-sirens bearing a shield with the arms of England 
and Hainault ; and for making a white robe worked with 
pearls, and a robe of velvet embroided with gold. Pay- 



HISTORY OF EMBROIDERY. 1 3 

ment was also made to William Courtenay for a royal 
dalmatic, wrought with pelicans, images, and tabernacles 
of gold. 

Women as well as men pursued this art as a business ; 
to say nothing of the great ladies who wrought at their 
needlework in their castles, surrounded by their ladies of 
honor and their maidens. Embroidery was, indeed, both 
their chief pastime and their most serious occupation. Shut 
out from the business of life, which in the higher ranks of 
society would seem to have been the giving and taking of 
hard blows, they had ample leisure to cultivate their taste, 
and they had ample means of gratifying it. They often 
made splendid offerings of their handiwork to the Church. 

The Church was very rich in precious stuffs and fine 
embroideries. In Lincoln alone there were upwards of 
six hundred vestments wrought with divers kinds of needle- 
work, jewelry, and gold, upon Indian baudekin, samite, 
tartan velvet, and silk. Many extremely beautiful exam- 
ples of ancient ecclesiastical work are scattered up and 
down England. At Oxford, in St, Mary's Church, there 
is a beautiful pulpit-cloth of cut work, or as we should say 
now of applique, blue velvet cut out and laid upon a cloth- 
of-gold ground. At Church Aston there is a magnificent 
altar-covering, at Cirencester, at Bircham St. Mary's, and 
at Durham also. But we have not space to enumerate the 
places where ancient embroideries are preserved in Eng- 
land. Some of the city companies have still the gorgeous 
palls which were lent to cover the coffins of their livery- 
men. The fishmongers' pall is a notable example, and the 
saddlers' and the ironmongers' palls are also very fine. 
These palls were not gloomy black things like those we 
use nowadays : they were resplendent with gold and colors^ 
and of quite cheerful aspect. 



14 ART-NEEDLEWORK. 

For domestic decoration, embroidery was greatly prized, 
especially at the time of the Renaissance. In France, 
especially, beautiful specimens are yet to be seen, in spite 
of the havoc and destruction that took place at the Revolu- 
tion. In Asselineau's book of examples of ancient furni- 
ture, there is a woodcut of an arm-chair in the Chateau 
d'Anette, of the time of Henry III. The back represents 
Apollo and the Graces. 

In England, besides the embroideries that are kept and 
cared for in the great show-houses of the nobility, there is 
a great deal in the less stately habitations ; and much, no 
doubt, has been thrust aside and hidden in old lumber- 
rooms, but will probably, with the revival of a taste for 
this beautiful art, be sought for and carefully repaired. 
Hardwick Hall is a storehouse of embroidery. The Count- 
ess of Shrewsbury, better known as Bess of Hardwick, 
was a great needlewoman in her day ; and at Hardwick are 
preserved not only the articles of furniture which she and 
the ladies of her household worked, but also her sampler 
patterns, which hang to this day framed upon the walls. 
This great lady built houses for herself, and hospitals for 
the poor. She was married four times, and had fourteen 
children. She managed her vast estates herself, and made 
great alliances for her children and grandchildren ; and yet, 
with all this business and all these cares, she found time to 
embroider furniture for her palaces, as may still be seen. 

One of the rooms in Hardwick is called Queen Mary's 
room, because the furniture of the room which Mary 
Queen of Scots occupied in the old Hardwick House was 
removed into the new one. The hangings of the bed and 
the chairs are said to be the work of this unhappy lady. 
There is every probability that this is true, for she herself 
declares that she tried to beguile the weary hours of 
imprisonment by working with her "nidil." 



HISTORY OF EMBROIDERY. 1 5 

Queen Elizabeth's talents in this direction show forth at 
Penshurst, in Kent, where there is a room called Queen 
Elizabeth's drawing-room, on account of its having been 
furnished by her when she was about to visit Sir Henry 
Sidney. Its furniture remains unaltered from the time 
she occupied it. The chairs and couches are covered with 
crimson and yellow damask, richly embroidered, being, it 
is affirmed, the work of the queen and her maids of honor, 
worked by them in order to do especial honor to Sir Henry 
Sidney. A table-cover in this room is said to have been 
wholly wrought by the queen's own hand. 

Queen Isabella of Spain was another notable example 
of industry ; at least, she took upon herself to rebuke 
others for their idleness. She used to make progresses 
with her daughters among the various convents that 
abounded in Spain, and do needlework for the instruction 
and encouragement of the nuns, who, we are informed, 
were too much given to idleness and frivolity. The nuns 
must have disliked this interference with their habits, and 
most likely the royal lady did more harm than good by her 
officiousness. 

At Knole, another Kentish mansion, not far from Pens- 
hurst, there is shown a room that was fitted up to receive 
King James I. The cost of its decoration was twenty 
thousand pounds (one hundred thousand dollars). The bed 
alone cost eight thousand pounds (forty thousand dollars) : 
its hangings are of gold and silver tissue, lined with richly 
embroidered satin. The chairs and stools are of similar 
materials and design. At Hatfield House, the seat of the 
Marquis of Salisbury, there are exquisite specimens of the 
embroidery of this date. 

But the taste for embroidery was not confined to the 
rich and great, and served not only for these great displays 



1 6 ART-NEEDLEWORK. 

of magnificence : executed in humbler materials, needle- 
work ornamented nearly every house. Many curious 
books of patterns for lace and all sorts of needlework were 
formerly published, of which a list is given in Douce's 
Illustrations of Shakespeare. From the scarcity of one 
book that went through twelve editions, Mr. Douce sup- 
posed that these books were generally cut to pieces, and 
used by women to work upon or transfer to their samplers, 
as copies are now so rarely to be met with. 

But towards the middle of the seventeenth century the 
glory of embroidery in England began to wane. Civil war 
and Puritanism were alike unfavorable to it, the latter es- 
pecially. There was a slight revival of its use after the 
Restoration, but principally for costume, the fashion of 
which is always changing. In France the art was flourish- 
ing ; and M. de St. Aubin, embroiderer to the King of 
France, says that embroidered fabrics for coats and waist- 
coats sometimes cost as much as a thousand francs the 
yard, money being then twice as valuable as it is now. In 
England the embroidery-trade had fallen so low that in the 
reign of George II. it was judged necessary to protect it 
by somewhat severe enactments. " No foreign embroid- 
ery," so runs the statute, " shall be imported, upon pain 
of being forfeited and burnt, and penalty of a hundred 
pounds (five hundred dollars) for each piece. No person 
shall sell, or expose for sale, any foreign embroidery, on 
pain of having it forfeited and burnt, and penalty of a 
hundred pounds. All such embroidery may be seized and 
burnt, and the mercer in whose custody it was found shall 
forfeit a hundred pounds." In spite of these protective 
measures, embroidery, as a trade, actually died out in 
England. And the causes of this are not far to seek. 
Wars, civil and foreign, had drafted off the men in large 



HISTORY OF EMBROIDERY. 1 7 

numbers.^ Trade and manufactures took so many new 
directions, that fresh fields of enterprise everywhere at- 
tracted men ; so that embroidery fell almost entirely into 
the hands of women, and became inferior in design and 
execution, and also more expensive. As an accomplish- 
ment for ladies it lingered on into the beginning of the 
present century, but the true principles of the art were 
lost. Our grandmothers called their style of ^oxk: pictorial 
embroidery ; and in that one word lies the explanation of 
the gradual but total eclipse of the art. Form, color, and 
composition are the only elements of graphic art that are 
permissible in embroidery ; but our grandmothers, for- 
saking the paths of decorative righteousness, went wander- 
ing after the strange gods of chiaro-oscuro and perspective, 
and wasted their time and talents over wretched copies of 
historical pictures by the great masters, and worse imita- 
tions of natural landscape. This fashion culminated in 
Miss Linwood's exhibition, which was one of the stock 
sights of London. Miss Linwood was mistress of a 
school at Leicester, and she began to imitate pictures 
with her needle in 1785, and in the following year received 
a medal from the Society of Arts in honor of her work. 
When she had finished a sufficient number of her pro- 
ductions, they were exhibited at the Hanover Square 
rooms ; and forty thousand visitors went to see them 
during the first season. Soon afterwards the collection 
was taken to Leicester Square, and exhibited to the public 
in the same house in which the Earl of Aylesbury had 
entertained Peter the Great, and in which George III. had 
lived while he was Prince of Wales. Here they remained 
till their author's death in 1844. She had refused three 

1 In France, before the Revolution, men were very generally employed in embroidery. 
The generals Hoche and Moreau were embroiderers before they turned soldiers. 



1 8 ART-NEEDLEWORK. 

thousand guineas (fifteen thousand dollars) for her princi- 
pal work, which was the "Salvator Mundi," after Carlo 
Dolci ; ^ and Miss Linwood bequeathed it to the Queen. 
The value of her work, however, had become so reduced, 
that when it was sold after her death at Christie and Man- 
son's the whole collection, with the exception of a few 
that were reserved, only realized a thousand pounds (five 
thousand dollars). Miss Linwood was a remarkable per- 
son ; and, as her exhibition enabled her to realize a hand- 
some fortune for herself, her labor and skill cannot be said 
to have been entirely thrown away. But it could have 
done good to no one else. To the art of embroidery it 
was positively injurious ; for persons without Miss Lin- 
wood's patience and judgment thought to follow in her 
steps, but their productions, for the most part, were con- 
siderably beneath contempt. And so it came to pass, that, 
the true principles of embroidery being lost, women with 
real artistic feeling turned their attention to other branches 
of art; while Berlin-wool work, which just then came into 
fashion, engaged the thoughts and fingers of their less 
intellectual sisters, and colored embroidery in England 
soon became a thing of the past. 

The same fashion for embroidery was prevailing at the 
same period in America among our grandmothers. Many 
families can show specimens of this work which are very 
valuable. Some of it is done upon coarse, soft cotton, the 
cotton from India used in those days, the pattern merely 
done in cross-stitch. But there were also specimens of work 
on this same material done in the stitch now just coming 
into fashion, with designs more or less graceful or conven- 
tional, which have stood time and "washing" wonderfully. 

1 And we hold up our hands, and cry out on the extravagance of the time, when at the 
present day a few thousands of pounds are given for a fine picture by a modern painter \ 



HISTORY OF EMBROIDERY. 1 9 

In Boston, at the beginning of this century, was the cele- 
brated school of Miss Welsh. She taught embroidery in 
flosses, and young ladies went to her for a month's lessons to 
learn how to work "a piece." This piece usually repre 
sented some memorial subject, usually a monument, by the 
side of which one or more mourning friends were standing 
on a pavement of marble, done in shades of gray. The 
faces of these figures were put in in colors with the brush 
by some artist, who made no attempt at portraiture, but who 
would depict red hair and blooming cheeks to suit his own 
ideas of color. At the time this instruction in embroidery 
was the crowning point, "the finish" of a young lady's 
education, who took away with her, also, a sample of 
letters done in cross-stitch. 

These silk embroideries will bear close study, in these 
days, as a lesson in careful workmanship, and blending of 
shades, " where the colors meet and seem as one," as de- 
scribed by Ovid. 

There was, however, in England, yet another cause for 
the utter oblivion into which such embroidery fell ; it was 
not wanted. It was not used in the Church, the only arti- 
cle of a decorative nature worn by clergymen in the pul- 
pit being that grotesque appendage called bands; and the 
beadle, sole relic of a departed splendor, who yet shone 
forth resplendent in scarlet much belaced with gold, did 
not — gorgeous creature though he was — require embroid- 
ered apparel. The pseudo-classic revival at the beginning 
of this century had imposed a taste for skimpiness and 
colorlessness ifi dress and decoration ; and at the begin- 
ning of the present reign, by a dismal freak of fashion, 
dowdiness reigned supreme, and gaudiness and tawdriness 
were her ministering fiends, while vulgarity was lurking in 
her train. Fortunately we were shortly delivered from her 
thrall, and our deliverance came from the East. 



20 ART-NEEDLEWORK. 

In the exhibition of 185 1, the Indian textile fabrics and 
embroidery work charmed all our true artists and men 
of taste ; and they were instant in their exhortations to 
us to learn the true principles of color and design, which 
were shown in those beautiful objects. These truths had 
been preached to us before, but we had turned a deaf ear. 
Fashion, however, could not stand against this later revela- 
tion ; and an improvement in taste, slow and hesitating, 
began. The late Mr. Welby Pugin, too, had been working 
hard in another direction in England. In the mediaeval 
court of the same exhibition, were some textile fabrics 
for church use, which had been designed by him, and 
manufactured at Manchester under his direction. A Ger- 
man lady took with her from England a cope that had been 
made from one of these fabrics, and this vestment came 
into the hands of Dr. Rock. " While so glad of his new 
gift, it set the worthy canon thinking that other and better 
patterns were to be seen upon stuffs of an old and good 
period, could they but be found. He gave himself to the 
search, and took along with him over the length and breadth 
of Europe that energy and promptitude for which he is so 
conspicuous ; and the gatherings of his many journeys, 
put together, made up the bulk of a most curious and valu- 
able collection, the only one of its kind, which has found a 
home at the South Kensington Museum. Thus have these 
beautiful art-works of the loom become, after a manner, a 
recompense, most gratefully received, to the land of those 
men whose actions, some thirty years ago, indirectly origi- 
nated their being brought together." 

We quote the above passage from the introduction to 
the catalogue of textile fabrics and needlework, now con- 
tained in the Museum of Science and Art at South Ken- 
sington, by Dr. Daniel Rock. This collection, together 



HISTORY OF EMBROIDERY. 21 

with beautiful specimens lent from time to time, has had 
a very determining influence on the art of embroidery in 
England ; but the credit of its actual revival is almost 
entirely due to Mrs. Welby, through whose exertions a 
school has been established and maintained. A princess, 
the Princess Louise, has taken the school at South Ken- 
sington under her protection ; and the taste of fashion is 
setting strongly in the direction of "art-embroidery," to use 
an expression now in general use, but which savors some- 
what of affectation, as, indeed, do many of the productions 
of the style now in vogue. Nevertheless, the vagaries of 
fashion apart, there is no doubt that a great improvement 
in taste in domestic decoration has taken place within the 
last few years, and we hope the improvement will • be 
widely extended. 

In many houses recently fitted up, embroidery plays the 
part it should in the abodes of wealth. At a small house 
in Berkeley Square, the drawing-room curtains are of gold 
tissue worked with colored flowers in silk, and the portieres 
are of splendid Japanese work on crimson satin. But not 
only in the mansions of the rich do we hope to see improve- 
ment. Crewels are now so cheap that every home almost, 
in England, no matter how humble, may be brightened by 
sweet and cheerful color. In dress, too, embroidery is be- 
coming an important element. In the account of a late 
garden-party at Chiswick of the Prince of Wales's, we read 
that one lady wore a Louis Quinze waistcoat of ivory silk 
embroidered with flowers ; another had a scarf tunic of 
white satin embroidered with gold ; and a third, a cuirass 
of cloth of gold richly embroidered. 

In Boston we have some admirable specimens of tap- 
estry and embroidery exhibited at the Art Museum, — 
Persian fabrics, and Prague rugs, and some admirable ex- 



22 ART-NEEDLEWORK. 

amples of Moorish embroidery, and later work, brought 
from the Centennial Exhibition.' And in all our cities are, 
from time to time, exhibitions of embroidery that will 
serve to awaken and preserve the taste for this art. 

In conclusion, we would impress upon our readers that 
embroidery is a fine art, and should be therefore treated 
seriously. Restless people who like fancy-work because 
they "must always be doing something," and vacant- 
minded people who " like to be employed " if the employ- 
ment saves them the trouble of thinking, had better keep 
to their Berlin-wool patterns and their brodcrie Anglaisc, 
and steer clear of artistic needlework. To those who 
look upon embroidery as something more than a mere 
mechanical occupation for their fingers, we would recom- 
mend fixed hours for work, when they will not be inter- 
rupted, and, if possible, to set apart a room, where the 
frames will be always placed, the materials always at 
hand, and the designs well arranged and easy to find when 
wanted. Work done in convents and in trade ateliers is 
always much superior to amateur work done at home ; and 
the chief reason is, because at home there is neither the 
daily application nor the steady perseverance which are 
always needed to make the thorough artist. 

' The McCullom collection at present (1878) exhibited at the Boston Art Museum displays 
valuable specimens of embroidery from the earliest times, as well as exquisite examples of 
lace-work. 



CHAPTER II. 

MATERIALS USED IN COLORED EMBROIDERY. 

" Richesse a robe of purple on had, 
Ne trow not that she had it mad, 
Ne by a thousand deale so riche, 
Ne none so faire, for it full well 
With orfrais laid was every dell 
And purtraid in the ribanings, 
With Dukes stories, and of Kings." 



Chaucer. 



L — LINEN. 



THE textile fabrics suitable for embroidery are not 
very numerous, and, with very few exceptions, are 
exactly similar to those that were in use centuries ago. 
Modern industry has not done much for us, either by dis- 
covering new materials, or by inventing novel modes of 
manufacturing the old ones. Linen is one of the oldest 
fabrics used for embroidery : it is well adapted for that 
purpose, and many kinds may be used. 

Roller-towelling, of a loose texture, is an excellent 
material, especially for beginners and children, as it is 
easy to work on and very cheap. It may be used for 
anti-macassars (" tidies " for chairs), table-mats, kettle-hold- 
ers, d'oyleys ; but it is too gray and coarse and narrow for 
light tea-cloths to put under a tea-service, though it is 
used for that purpose. We have also seen it used as a 
temporary cover to protect a costly Turkish table-cover, 

23 



24 AR T-NEEDLE WORK. 

instead of the latter being removed when the table it 
covers is used for writing, &c. 

" Crash " is the specific name of the gray linen now 
so much used for crewel-work, that embroidery on it in 
crewels is often called "crash-work." But as it is pos- 
sible that the present fashion — which, indeed, almost 
amounts to a rage — will soon pass away, we do not rec- 
ommend this material for any piece of needle-work. For 
" tidies " it is excellent ; so it is for toilet-covers, toilet- 
mats, and nightdress-cases, which may be worked to 
match, and which make very pretty sets when finished. 
But for drawing-room curtains, and portieres, embroidered 
with silks, we should advise nobler materials. 

There is a lighter towelling, that, if chosen with judg- 
ment, makes excellent embroidery stuff : it is found of a 
very agreeable color, warmer in tone than crash, and pale 
enough sometimes to be used. The English use this for 
"tea-cloths" for their favorite " five-o'-clock " teas. 

Very beautiful white linen, of a good width, may be had 
for "five-o'clockTtea-cloths." The warp and the woof 
should be of the same thickness in linen used for em- 
broidery. 

Fine white linen is sometimes used for silk embroidery, 
especially when the whole surface is to be covered. 

Twilled linen, very stout, and of a narrow width, is 
made sometimes expressly for borderings. 

There is also the "mummy-cloth" before alluded to, 
both linen and cotton. The linen forms a charming 
material for embroidery. The cotton is heavier, but 
suitable for curtains. A pretty linen material like striped 
jean is very handsome for embroidery ; and nice white 
duck, if found smooth and even, is also serviceable. 

All these fabrics can be found now in most of the shops 



MATERIALS USED IN COLORED EMBROIDERY. 25 

where materials for embroidery are sold, with varieties of 
names, — mummy-cloth, bamboo-cloth, 8z:c. 

Strainer-cloth is used for curtains, and embroidery is 
very pretty on it. It resembles a little the thin cottons 
made in India, and used for embroidery. 

II. COTTON. 

Very few cotton textures are used for embroidery. Our 
American cottons are too heavy. Unbleached sheeting 
or cotton flannel, a thick coarse twill of the color tech- 
nically called " gray," but really yellowish, is, however, 
much used for crewel-work just now. Very pretty sum- 
mer frocks for little children may be made with it, 
ornamented in crewels ; and, as nearly all crewels wash 
well, an elegant little costume may be had at a very small 
expense. 

Twilled cotton may be had in several colors, and answers 
very well for some purposes to which ornamental needle- 
work may be applied, — for instance, the covering of chair- 
seats. In this material there is a fine, cool earth-brown, 
inclining to purple in the shadows, which has a rich effect 
as a foundation for embroidery. There is also a very dark 
blue, which is an excellent color, or any color can be ob- 
tained by dyeing. 

Muslin may be used for embroidery. We have seen 
very pretty aprons worked in crewels, which, with a little 
care, wash extremely well. Doubtless most of our readers 
have seen and admired exquisite specimens of Indian 
muslins enriched with needlework in gold and floss-silk. 
We do not say that it would be beyond their skill to imi- 
tate these productions ; but as the muslin fitted for the 
purpose is both expensive, and difficult to obtain, we do 
not counsel them to attempt the task, except for such un- 
important things as sashes and little scarfs. 



26 ART-NEEDLEWORK. 
Ill, WOOLLEN FABRICS. 

Serge is one of the very best materials for embroidery. 
There is a thin, harsh serge, and there are other kinds 
that are thick, soft, and rich-looking. The first is by no 
means the worst. There is also a serge which is twilled 
only on one side, and which makes a capital firm ground 
for needlework. 

Cloth is well adapted for applique work and silk em- 
broidery, but it does not do so well for crewel-work as 
serge. It should be chosen with very little dress (to use a 
technical term) upon it. 

Cloths and serges may be had in all colors. We have 
seen some exquisite salmon-pinks in the former, and beau- 
tiful blues and yellows in the latter. Blues seldom look 
well in cloth, the material is too smooth and glossy ; but 
the diagonal rib of the serge fabrics produces a play of 
light and shade that takes off from the coldness and harsh- 
ness of the blue tints. 

Merinos and cashmeres may be embroidered in silk for 
dresses, jackets, &c. 

These fabrics can be found at the principal upholsterers. 

IV. SILK FABRICS. 

Nearly all kinds of silk are suitable for embroidery : 
even thin sarcenets will look well when backed by holland 
or paper. The thin silks also may be used for applique 
work, with very good effect for purposes where great 
strength is not required. The rep-silks and diapered 
silks, thick and soft, are almost the only kinds of silk that 
should be used for ecclesiastical embroidery. 

Of all textile fabrics, however, there are none to com- 
pare with satin for beauty of effect, when embroidered 



MATERIALS USED IN COLORED EMBROIDERY. 2^ 

with silk. Its surface, smooth and lustrous almost as pol- 
ished metal, reflects surrounding colors to a greater extent 
than any other woven material ; while, from the peculiarity 
of its texture, its highest lights are few and crisp, and the 
greater part of its surface, therefore, is nearly always in 
half-tint or shadow, and the deep shadows of the larger 
folds are themselves lighted up by innumerable reflections. 
This shimmer of light and shade — this changefulness — 
serves to bring into harmony colors the most harshly op- 
posed to each other ; and therein lies the explanation of 
the fact that ladies may venture to wear satins of a color 
that in any other stuff would be, to say the least, "very 
trying" to their complexions. Nevertheless we would 
not be understood to counsel our readers to embroider 
satin without any regard to harmonious arrangement of 
color, and to trust to its precious qualities to ser things 
right for them. 

V. PILED FABRICS. 

Velvets, both cotton and silk, receive embroidery well. 
They are also used in applique work on serge, cloth, silk, 
and velvets of another color. When a very pure white is 
required, it is almost necessary to use cotton velvet, as silk 
velvet nearly always inclines to gray or yellow. The 
shorter the pile of velvet, and consequently the more 
costly, the better it is adapted for needlework. 

Utrecht velvet looks very well ornamented in crewel- 
work, and is especially suitable for mantle-piece hangings, 
wall-friezes, portieres, and curtains. 

There is also a handsome material in ribbed velveteen,, 
which may be had in nearly all shades of drab and brown, 
and which looks extremely well for similar purposes, when 
worked with a fine, bold design in crewels. It should be 
very soft, thick, and pliant. 



28 ART-NEEDLEWORK. 

VI. CREWELS, SILKS, GOLD AND SILVER. 

Crewels are the only kind of worsted used for colored 
embroidery. They are made with only two plies, and their 
loose twist causes them, in working, to form lines which 
may be compared to the lines in copperplate engravings. 
This is a very great advantage from an artistic point of 
view. In color, too, they may be brilliant without being 
harsh ; and they are to be had in such an immense variety 
of tints and shades, that in working with them one may 
almost be said to paint in worsted. 

The embroidery silks are floss (coarse and fine), Dacca 
and Mitorse silks, and filoselle. 

Dacca is more useful than floss, on account of the read- 
iness with which it can be split into filaments. 

Mitorse is an excellent silk, though Berlin silk is to a 
great extent taking its place. It is the silk used by the 
Chinese and Japanese for their double embroideries ; but it 
requires skill in using, as it is difflcult to keep the twist of 
one size. 

Filoselle is what the French call "boiirre de soie." It is 
made from the waste cocoons : that is to say, the cocoons 
from which the moths have been allowed to emerge, caus- 
ing thereby a "solution of continuity" of the filament. 
Instead, therefore, of the silk being reeled off, it is spun, 
and is, in fact, the raw material from which what we call 
spun silk is made. Filoselle is not much used in embroid- 
ery at present ; but as it is cheap and very durable, and 
easier to work with than floss, there seems no reason why 
it should not become more general. Lack of brilliancy 
would not be an undesirable quality in embroidery for 
dresses for daily wear. 

Purse-silks and silk cords are also used in embroidery. 



MATERIALS USED IN COLORED EMBROIDERY. 29 

Sewing-silks, when thick and soft, of the kind sold in 
skeins, may also be used. The Japanese embroideries on 
satin, now so much in vogue for mounting as screens, are 
nearly all executed in a silk which appears to be similar to 
our sewing-silks. 

Chenille was formerly much used in combination with 
silk, in embroideries on the more precious stuffs. 

Gold and silver are not much used at present, except in 
church embroidery, which does not come within the scope 
of the present work. Perhaps, now that gold and silver 
braid is so generally worn on dresses, fashion may give a 
turn to these materials for embroidery. Cord is generally 
used for edging; and "passing," as it is termed, for 
"laying" or "couching." 

We read in the . latest accounts of the fashions, that 
kid, richly embroidered, is now being used for the close- 
fitting aiirasse bodies of ladies' dresses. We do not think, 
however, that this material will have more than a tempo- 
rary and limited vogue. 

Silk embroidery is at present rather expensive work ; so 
our readers will be glad to hear that there exists a reason- 
able expectation that in a very short time a large supply 
of silk, unadulterated, and of the finest quality, will be 
brought into the market from Australia. The :limate of 
Australia is admirably 'adapted to silkworm culture ; and 
the soil suits the mulberry-trees, which have been exten- 
sively planted in that country. Both trees and worms 
succeed beyond even the expectation of the company 
formed to promote this important industry. With regard to 
materials, fresh fabrics are now constantly presented ; and 
an opportunity for choice in tone and color is given for the 
most artistic workwoman, who had better select for herself 
from the most enterprising of the dealers in these things. 



CHAPTER III. 

IMPLEMENTS. 

" Implements of every size, 
And formed for various use." — Covvper. 
''The needle's sharpnesse profit yeelds and pleasure." 

John Taylor : Tlie Needle's Excellejicy. 

THE implements used in colored embroidery are few 
and simple. 

For Illustrations, see Frontispiece. 

The needles used are the ordinary round-eyed needles, 
and the long-eyed embroidery-needles. The latter are 
used for crewel and floss silks, and the former for twisted 
silks and cords and for gold and silver threads. No. 19 
(illustration) will show the form of needles desired for 
crewels and floss. They are what are usually called 
worsted-needles, pointed ; though for many materials a 
common darning-needle, if it can be found sufficiently 
fine, would be preferred. They should be chosen so large 
as to allow them to carry the thread easily through the 
stuff to be embroidered, and the eye should be large 
enough to take the thread immediately, and allow of its 
being drawn backwards and forwards without distressing 
it. If you have to tug a needle through the stuff, it is too 
small, and should immediately be rejected ; for tugging 
spoils material, and, besides that, wastes the time, strength, 
and temper of the worker, to a much greater extent than 
30 



IMPLEMENTS. 3 1 

might be generally supposed. It is almost needless to 
say, always choose the best needles. Thimbles should be 
particularly smooth ; if new and rough they catch and 
worry floss silks and loosely twisted threads. They 
should, therefore, before being taken into use for embroid- 
ery, have been used for .common needlework for some time. 

A stiletto (see illustrations Nos. 7, 8) will be wanted 
to make holes for taking thick edging cords through the 
stuff. 

Another tool is necessary to the embroiderer. This 
is a little instrument of steel called a " piercer " (illustra- 
tion 9) round, and pointed at one end like a stiletto, and 
flat at the other. It is used in gold embroidery to help 
lay the threads, and also in raised work in crewels and 
silk, and in church embroidery in working silk over card- 
board. 

A frame is necessary in some kinds of embroidery. 
The ordinary four-piece frame, the same as used for can- 
vas work, is too well known to need description. (See 
cut, figs. 2, 3, 4, 5.) The tambour frame is better for 
dresses and large pieces of work, as no sewing of the stuff 
is required. It consists of two hoops fitting closely one 
within the other. (See cut, fig. i.) 

Before leaving the subject of tools it may be well to 
give a hint or two as to the hands, the most important 
implements of all. It is essential, in all kinds of embroid- 
ery, that the hands be clean, soft, and dry. The slightest 
roughness of the skin will catch and " tease " floss silk : 
therefore, if the forefinger be rough from plain sewing, it 
should be well rubbed with pumice-stone. A little silver 
shield is sometimes worn on the forefinger of the left 
hand to protect it. In winter the hands should be washed 
with oatmeal, and most carefully dried. Do not grudge 



32 ART-NEEDLEWORK. 

five minutes or more for drying your hands well ; use a 
soft old towel, and do not give over rubbing and drying 
till the towel glides quite smoothly over the skin. The 
only reason why people have rough hands in winter is 
that they do not dry them thoroughly after washing. In 
summer if your hands are inclined to be damp, and you 
are doing delicate work, wash them frequently in warm 
water. Take off all rings, bracelets, and the innumerable 
chains, chatelaines, and other bibelots, that ladies are so 
fond of hanging about their persons, before you set to 
work : they catch and pull your materials, and bracelets 
fatigue the wrists more than you are aware of. Rings, 
too, impede the circulation, and cause weariness in the 
fingers. 

Unless your dress be perfectly fresh and clean, it is 
well, while you are embroidering, to wear a large linen 
apron with a bib to it. A pair of linen cuffs should be 
drawn over your sleeves. The apron should be made with 
pockets large enough to hold an ample supply of materi- 
als, or to take one end of the stuff if you are doing a 
large piece of work. The support which this gives pre- 
vents a good deal of fatigue from the weight of the mate- 
rial, and it also prevents the work from being pulled and 
dragged. Thus attired, your aspect will be far from ro- 
mantic ; but you will be amply repaid for the little sacri- 
fice of personal vanity that you may make by the appear- 
ance of your work when finished. Even the coarsest and 
dingiest materials, the darkest crewels on the roughest 
towelling, show the difference between careful and slov- 
enly treatment, and are the better for dainty niceness of 
manipulation. 

Paste will frequently be required ; and, though it may 
seem a very common thing, very few people know how to 



I 



IMPLEMENTS. 33 

make it well. It may be bought ready-made at a book- 
binder's ; but, besides being more expensive, it is also 
more troublesome to purchase ready-made, and a shop 
may not always be within reach. We give directions how 
to make it. 

Mix some flour and water in a pipkin or saucepan (a 
pipkin is best, because you can keep it in your workroom, 
and it does not look unsightly). Add a pinch of rosin or 
alum to every handful of flour ; when quite smoothly 
mixed, set it on the fire, and keep stirring with a wooden 
spoon till it thickens. It should not be kept more than a 
few days. 

For applique work, as described on p. 44, where paste 
is necessary, great care should be used in applying it. 

After the material is cut out in the figure required, such 
as a leaf, flower, or scroll, lay it upon clean paper or a 
towel, and apply the paste with a brush on the wrong side ; 
then put the figure on the foundation in exactly the posi- 
tion where it is needed ; lay a towel or smooth cloth over 
it, and press it with a flat-iron, not too hot. If too much 
paste is used, it will ooze out from beneath the pattern, in 
which case, for certain materials, a sponge and warm 
water may remedy the difficulty. But it is better to be 
careful that the paste is not too moist, and to use only 
just enough, as many materials would be injured by 
water. 



CHAPTER IV. 

METHOD. 

..." And with her neelcl composes 
Nature's own shape, of bud, bird, branch, or berry; 

That even her art sisters the natural roses. 
Her inkle, silk, twin with the rubied cherry." 

Shakespeare. 

I. TRACING AND TRANSFERRING. 

IF the worker is a good enough draughtswoman, we 
should advise her to draw at once on the material to 
be wrought upon, if it be not very costly, as her work will 
thus have a greater freedom of effect. Unless, however, 
she is very certain of her ability, she had better, at all 
events at first, attempt only floral designs. In flowers 
and leaves, exactness of form is not of much importance ; 
but it is otherwise with an ornamental scroll. If she is 
not skilful enough to draw her design directly on the stuff, 
she must have recourse to the somewhat tiresome process 
of tracing and transferring, for which we will now give 
instructions. 

The design may be traced on cartridge or drawing 
paper, either by placing it against the glass of a window 
with the cartridge above it, and tracing it with a pen or 
pencil, or else by first tracing it on tissue or tracing paper, 
and then transferring it by placing it on the cartridge with 
a piece of transfer-paper between the two, and going 

34 



METHOD. 35 

carefully over the design with an ivory style. The design 
traced on the cartridge must now be pricked carefully and 
evenly with a pin or a steel point. It is then to be laid 
on the material, and pounced ; that is to say, pounce or 
powder is to be rubbed through the pin-holes. When this 
has been done, the paper is to be removed, and the design 
will be found to be marked out on the material in little 
dots. When the halves or four quarters of- a design cor- 
respond, time may be saved, and greater accuracy obtained, 
if, instead of drawing each portion of the design, the 
paper be folded in two or four divisions, and the pattern 
drawn on the upper side only. The holes can then be 
pierced through the several divisions at the same time. 
In this way a more correct pattern will be produced 
than if every part had been pricked and pounced sepa- 
rately. 

Powder-blue or pulverized pipe-clay makes a good pounce. 
For a dark outline the pipe-clay should be mixed with 
finely-powdered charcoal. The charcoal used by artists is 
the best for this purpose, and may be had at the artists' 
color-shops. Some persons rub in the powder with a stiff, 
hard brush, of the kind formerly used for Poonah painting, 
with all the bristles of a length ; but a better tool for this 
purpose is made of list rolled up very tightly. Care 
should be taken to place the design on the material in 
the exact place it is to occupy ; it should be fixed in its 
place with weights, and the rubbing should be so managed 
that neither the paper nor the material shall be disturbed : 
otherwise the dotted impression will be blurred and indis- 
tinct. 

When the pricked outline has been removed, the design 
must be gone over with paint. Use cobalt if the pouncing 
has been done with blue, and Chinese white if with pipe- 



36 ART-NEEDLEWORK. 

clay, or sepia if with gray. Indian ink makes a good out- 
line on white linen, and may be used with a pen. For 
painting the outline a short stiff red sable is the best kind 
of brush. Go over the outline with few and free touches : 
do not be always lifting the brush, but make bold and 
sweeping strokes, or the outline will be stiff and feeble, 
and your embroidery, consequently, an inferior perform- 
ance. For many purposes, transferring-paper answers to 
trace the impressions of a pattern. Care should be taken 
to use the better transferring-paper which does not "crook" 
the cloth. 

II. FRAMING. 

A frame is not essential for all kinds of embroidery. 
For church-work, embroidery over cardboard, and floss-silk 
work, however, it should be used. A strip of strong linen 
or tape should be stitched along the woof ends of the 
material, which must then be sewn firmly with strong 
doubled thread to the webbing on the frame. When this 
has been done, the laths of the frame are to be slipped 
through the mortice-holes of the other pieces, and the 
pegs fastened in. The strain should be increased gradu- 
ally and cautiously till the tension appears sufBcient. 
The woof ends must now be braced to the side-pieces with 
fine twine. A packing-needle threaded with twine must 
be drawn through the upper right-hand corner of the tape 
or linen, and the end securely tied. The twine must be 
sewn over the lath till the lower corner is reached, knotted 
securely, and cut off : the other side must be done in the 
same manner. When the material is larger than the 
frame, it may be sewn on to the bars, and rolled round one 
of them, with tissue-paper and wadding between to pre- 



METHOD. 37 

vent the creasing of the stuff ; when the portion in the 
frame is finished, it is rolled round the opposite bar, and 
so on until the work is finished. Or it may be man- 
aged in this way, if the stuff to be wrought upon is pre- 
cious ; brace a piece of fine holland in the frame, and then 
carefully place a portion of the velvet or satin on the hol- 
land, and tack it down with small stitches and fine thread. 
When this piece of the work is finished take it out, put 
in fresh holland, and spread another portion of material. 
In this way very large surfaces may be covered very easily 
and well. A large frame adds greatly to the fatigue o'" 
working, and is really very seldom necessary. 

III. PREPARATION OF MATERIALS. 

In many cases the material wrought upon requires 
strengthening by a lining of stronger and less costly stuff. 
Linen or fine holland is generally used, and very frequently 
paper : sometimes both paper and holland are employed 
together. When the backing (to use the technical term) is 
of linen or holland, the process is as follows : The linen 
is stretched on a frame in the way above described, and, 
when quite tightly strained, should be covered smoothly 
and evenly with paste ; the velvet or silk is then to be laid 
upon it, and pressed down, great care being taken that 
every part of the upper material shall be in immediate 
contact with the lower. It is best to spread the paste with 
the fingers, in order that no little lumps be overlooked. 
Some persons make use of a brush, which is by no means 
so good a tool as the fingers for producing an even coating 
of paste. When paper is used for a backing, the wov^en 
fabric may be stretched first in a frame, or not, as the 
worker pleases. With large pieces it is perhaps more con- 
venient to back the material first. When both linen and 



38 ART-NEEDLEWORK. 

paper are used together, the paper should always be under- 
most, be pasted on first, and allowed to dry completely 
before the uppermost material is laid down. It is scarcely 
necessary to observe that the paste must be allowed to dry 
completely before the embroiderer sets to work. 

It may be imagined that these several thicknesses of 
material will render the working difficult; but this is not 
the case, as the extreme tension, caused by the framing, 
makes the admission of the needle easy. 

A good deal of embroidery is done by working designs 
first on linen, and then applying it on richer stuffs. When 
this is the case, the embroidery is executed first, and then 
backed by paper; when quite dry it is taken out of the 
frame, and cut round with a sharp pair of scissors, leaving 
about one-sixteenth of an inch of linen round the embroid- 
ered part, which must be laid on the velvet, and tacked 
down if the latter is loose ; if it is framed, the piece of 
embroidery should be fastened on it by small pins thrust 
perpendicularly through. It must then be secured by 
sewing over in small stitches. The edge of the linen must 
afterwards be dissimulated by a gold or silver cord fas- 
tened down by fine sewing-silk matching the cord in color. 

Much of the old embroidery is done in this way, though 
of course we cannot be sure that it was executed so origi- 
nally ; it being quite possible that the same embroidery 
may have been transferred to new foundations several 
times. 

Thin and transparent materials, such as muslin or net, 
may be placed over a muslin lining with the pattern traced 
thereon, which may be cut away when the work is fin- 
ished. In many cases the back of the embroidery should 
be smeared with paste, in order that the ends of silk, &c., 
may be secured. 



METHOD. 39 

IV. CARDBOARD. 

Embroidery over cardboard is principally employed in 
church-work. For domestic purposes, however, it is occa- 
sionally wanted, as, for instance, in monograms and devices 
for curtain and mantlepiece valances. We therefore give 
directions for it. 

The design is to be drawn in pencil on the cardboard, 
and then cut out with a penknife or sharp scissors. Care 
must betaken to leave pieces of cardboard, called ^' stays,'' 
to connect together the various parts of the design which 
might otherwise become disconnected in the cutting out. 
Then place it on the material, and tack it firmly down with 
packthread. When it is secured the " stays " may be cut 
away. The best cardboard for this purpose is called thin 
mounting-board. 

v. — THE STITCHES, AND THE MODE OF WORKING. 

The stitch used in crewel-work is very simple and very 
old ; though it goes by the name of the " South Kensing- 
ton stitch," as though it had been invented at the South 
Kensington school. This name is erroneous ; for, as we 
have already stated in speaking of the work of two genera- 
tions ago, it is the stitch used by our grandmothers, and 
might with more propriety be called " our grandmothers' 
stitch." It is the least mechanical of all stitches used in 
fancy-work, and much discretion in its practice is left to 
the worker. It is like the hatching in chalk and water- 
color drawing : so that the effect be good, it signifies but 
little what means the artist takes to produce it. This free- 
dom gives a peculiar charm and fascination to working in 
this long-stitch, which, indeed, has been not inaptly called 
"painting with the needle." 




DIAGRAM I. — CREWEL STITCH. 



40 ART-NEEDLEWORK. 

A knot being made in the worsted, it is brought from the 
under side of the cloth or linen to the surface, on the line 
marked out for the pattern. Then the needle is passed 
back again from the upper side, on the line of the pattern, 
at about a quarter of an inch distance, 
more or less. It is again brought up 
below, at about half way from the first 
point, at the left of the thread, and 
carried on about as far beyond the second. (See dia- 
grams^ I and 2.) If the line is to be made wider (the 
stalk, for instance, broader, or a leaf or flower to be filled 
in), after reaching the top of the pattern the same stitch 
must be worked back inside the first line, the needle being 
reversed. The work might be turned, but a little practice 
will make reversing the needle more convenient. The 
object is to bring the lines of work closely together, each 
new stitch covering the stitch of the line just worked, — 
" imbricating " it, as the tiles are 
put on a roof. (See diagrams 3 
and 4.) 

The length of the stitches must 
be left entirely to the judgment of 
the worker, who will make them 
longer or shorter according to the 
extent of surface to be covered, 
the abruptness of the curves, the diagram 2. 

coarseness or fineness of the material wrought upon, and 
the destination of the work when finished, &c. Naturally 
a closer stitch and more solid work are required for anti- 
macassars or sofa-cushions, which are always coming in 
contact with fidgety and restless human beings decked out 
with every kind of ornamental excrescence likely to pull 

^ In these diagrams the spaces between the stitches are much enlarged. 




METHOD. 



41 




and catch at worsted-work, than for a frieze of needle- 
work nailed immediately under the ceiling.^ 

The stitches should be smoothly and evenly laid, and 
should resemble the woof of satin. 

In working, the outline is to be covered first ; for in- 
stance, in working the stalk of a flower, begin from the 
lower end first, and work on the outline till it is crossed 
by a leaf, or terminates in a 
flower ; then pass the needle to 
the other side, and work' back 
again to the lower end ; then 
work another line of stitches 
inside the outline till the stalk 
is filled up. (See diagram 3.) 
Leaves that are all one color 
are worked in the same way, and the veins are put in last. 
(See diagram 4.) 

Variegated leaves and 
shaded flower -petals are 
treated differently, . though 
the stitch is still the same. 
The outer edge of color is 
worked first, beginning on 
the outline, and going to- 
wards the centre. Be careful 
not to take all the stitches 
right up to the inner edge of 
color, so that the two shades may dovetail into one 
another, and a sharp, hard, defined line be avoided. (See 




DIAGRAM 3. — WORKING AN OUTLINE. 



DIAGRAM 4. — OUTLINE OF LEAF. 



' In speaking of Paolo of Verona, Vasari mentions with approbation the fact that he worked 
with the old-fashioned close stitch, which besides greater solidity had the advantage of produ- 
cing an effect more like painting. " This manner of working," he goes on to say, " is now nearly 
forgotten, and a longer stitch has been adopted, which is less durable and less agreeable to the 
eye." 



42 ART-NEEDLEWORK. 

diagram 5.) It is quite easy to make curves and angles 
in this stitch, taking care that the Hnes of stitches follow 
the direction of the fibre or grain of the object imi- 
tated in needlework. Thus the stalk of a plant should 
never be worked across, as we frequently see it done, but 
invariably lengthwise. Work the leaves the same direc- 
tion as the fibres in a natural leaf. With such leaves as 

brambles, do one side of the 
leaf darker than the other. 
Old-fashioned pieces of picto- 
rial embroidery may be ad^ 
vantageously studied in this 
respect, though we do not 
recommend our readers to 
imitate them in others. Good 
line-engravings, too, will often 
afford useful hints as to the 
direction of stitches. In- 

DIAGRAM 5. — STITCHES FOR SHADING. 

deed, an embroideress will, 
if she loves her art, always have her eyes open, and her 
mind alert and ready to find instruction. It is very 
necessary to fill up thin places in this stitch without any 
appearance of patchiness. 

Embroidery in floss silk is executed in this way, the 
stitches being carefully laid with the piercer. This little 
implement is of great use in working with floss silks ; it 
keeps the fibres open and broad, whereas without it they 
would be constantly twisting. Before the silk is pulled 
right through the stuff, it should be passed over and spread 
on the flat end of the piercer. 

This kind of stitch, which the French call point perdu, 
because its beginnings and endings should, in good em- 
broidery, be lost and undefined, is, of course, not available 





METHOD. 43 

for twisted silks, which require a different treatment ; and 
point passe, or satin stitch, must be adopted. This consists 
m. passing the silk from one outline to another. Those 
beautiful pieces of Indian and Chinese embroidery, with 
the right and wrong sides exactly alike (making, indeed, 
two right sides), are wrought in this manner. The piercer 
here again comes in usefully for keeping 
the stitches even and smooth. Some- 
times it is desirable to raise certain 
portions of the work : this may be done 
with cotton, and the silk taken over the 
padding, as illustrated in diagram 6. 
This stitch is used for embroidery over 
cardboard ; and, when the pattern is to^ 

, . , . f . 1111 DIAGRAM 6. — SATIN STITCH. 

be raised, a piece oi string should be 
sewn in the centre of the cardboard, and the silk taken 
over it. The stitches should always be taken in a slanting 
direction ; that is to say, they should, if possible, never run 
parallel to either the warp or the woof of the material. 

Button-hole stitch, coral stitch, chain-stitch, knot-stitch, 

fern-stitch, &c.,^ are only used in applique work, and then 

. >v/— N principally to strengthen the 

> /^''li—S*- -^=S^Z ^3^tGi'i3-^ that makes the pattern, 

"*^T^^^Pr^^T^^^^STrsr and to enrich it. A stitch called 

point Russe,^ a long back-stitch 
something like herring - bone 
DiAOKAM 7.-FREHCH KNOT, X. ^^j^^j^^ j^ somctimcs convcuient 

for light grasses or stalks, by way of contrast to the heavier 
work in grouping. The French knot is used in most kinds 
of embroidery ; and, as it requires some skill, we recom- 
mend our readers to practise it first with common materials. 

* Descriptions of these stitches are given in part II. Art Needlework. 

* This will be found described, with illustration, in part II. Art Needlework. 





44 ART-NEEDLEWORK. 

It is worked thus : Take about four threads of the material 
on the needle (or more in coarser work), draw the needle 
half out ; wind the thread (crewel or silk) twice round the 
point of the needle, hold it tight with the thumb, draw 
the needle out carefully, and insert it in the place where 
the stitch was begun, and draw it out at the place where 
the next stitch is to be worked. (See diagram 7.) In 

working without a frame, you 
vary a little in the manner of 
placing the needle in completing 
the stitch. Before drawing the 
crewel or silk out of the material, 

DIAGRAM 8.-FKENCH KNOT, .. ^Old it tight with thC Icft thUmb ; 

leave the needle in the same 
position, wind the thread twice round it ; turn the needle 
from left to right so (follow the direction of the arrow) 
that its point arrives where the cotton was drawn out 
(marked by a cross in illustration) ; insert the needle there, 
and draw it out at the place of the next stitch. In one 
case, to complete the stitch, after winding the thread 
round, you put the needle in where the stitch was begun : 
in the other, you put it in where the thread was drawn 
out. French knots are used for filling up the centres of 
flowers or wherever raised work is needed. 

Edging cords and gold are fastened down by fine sewing- 
silk taken over them. When the outline is finished, a 
hole must be made in the stuff with a stiletto, the cord 
cut off, and the end threaded on a large round-eyed needle, 
taken through the stiletto-hole, and fastened off securely 
at the back. 

IV. APPLIQUE WORK. 

" Appliqii^'' is a French word, which, as it has now no 
equivalent in the English language, we are forced to use. 



METHOD. 45 

"Application" and "applied work" come nearest to the 
true signification, but are rather awkward to use. Applique 
work consists of a pattern cut out in one color or stuff, 
and laid on or applied to another. 

Applique work may be executed in almost every material 
and for almost every purpose. It is probably the oldest 
kind of decorative needlework : it certainly is the most 
simple. Neatness and some degree of mechanical skill 
are all that are required in the manipulation of the mate- 
rials. In this kind of ornamental work, even more than 
in the others, design and color are of higher importance 
than mere stitchery. 

Cloth is one of the most satisfactory materials for ap- 
plique work. It is easy to cut, and at the same time is 
very solid. It can be had in a great many different shades 
and colors. The pattern should be traced on it in the 
manner that has already been described, and cut out with 
a sharp pair of scissors, and gummed or pasted on to the 
stuff it is to ornament. When quite dry, it must be se- 
cured with fine sewing-silk of the same color, and after- 
wards worked over with purse or embroidery silk in button- 
hole stitch in another shade or color. If an edging of 
cord is used, the button-hole stitch is not required. The 
cord is sewn down with fine sewing-silk of the same color. 
When the design is complicated, or in many colors, or it 
is to be executed in more precious stuff, a tracing should 
be made on the material it is laid upon, and the parts care- 
fully numbered : they should fit together like a dissected 
map. In working with velvet, satin, or silk, holland 
should be stretched in a frame, the design drawn upon it, 
and the velvet, &c., pasted on the other side, and when 
dry cut as above directed. When several colors are used, 
pieces the size of the parts they are required for may be 



46 ART-NEEDLEWORK. 

pasted on the foundation. Cotton-velvet does not require 
this backing, as it is little liable to fray : gum or starch 
or paste spread over the back is enough to keep it firm 
for cutting. Paper is often used for the purpose of back- 
ing : tough paper is the best for this. 

In cutting out, economize your stuff as much as possible, 
and make use of the smallest morsels. A great deal of 
waste may be avoided by a very slight attention to this 
recommendation. You must remember that in piled 
fabrics and cloth you get a different shade of color if 
the stuff does not meet the light in the same direction. 
So be careful in cutting out and laying down, that the pile 
always goes the same way. It is well, before pasting down, 
to lay the pieces flat in the position they are to occupy, 
and look at them from different points, when any inac- 
curacy of placing will then be discovered. 

For very delicate materials isinglass is sometimes used 
instead of paste. 

Applique work is often ornamented afterwards with 
patterns in different stitches, chain-stitch, coral-stitch, 
button-hole stitch, &c. ; but its chief use is in cases where 
flat masses of color are required. 

VII. A FEW USEFUL GENERAL HINTS. 

When you are working on any costly or delicate mate- 
rials, it is well to place a fold or two of soft old damask 
tablecloth over the lower part of the frame, so that any 
friction arising from contact with your body may be avoid- 
ed. Tissue-paper or soft old tablecloth should also be 
placed over the part on which you are working, so that 
your hand shall not touch the work. 

Always cover up your work when you leave it, even if 
it be only for half an hour. 



METHOD. 47 

In working without a frame, your work may, if it be in 
rather narrow strips, be pinned to your knee or to a leaded 
pincushion. 

Very thin strips may sometimes be pinned to the top 
webbing of a frame, and the lower part left loose, allowing 
the left hand to pass under it. 

In working with a frame, you should learn to use both 
hands at once, — one to thrust the needle downwards, and 
the other to thrust it up. A delicate sense of touch is re- 
quired to do this dexterously, and your progress will be 
slow at first ; but, when you get accustomed to this mode 
of work, you will be quite repaid for the trouble you have 
taken in acquiring it. Of course it will be necessary for 
you to use two thimbles, for right and left middle fingers. 
One very good reason for working with both hands is, that 
you may always so sit that the light may never cast the 
shadow of your hand on your work, as you can use the 
hand under the frame that would otherwise cast a shadow. 
Another advantage is, that by changing the position of the 
body, and bringing different muscles into play, you can 
work longer without being fatigued. 

It is very false economy to go on working with a thread 
that shows signs of being worn, soiled, or distressed in 
any way. It is not wasteful to cut it off, and throw it 
away ; for it would spoil the appearance of your work, 
which should look, as the popular phrase has it, " as if 
hands had not touched it." 

You must never pick out whQn you are working on silk or 
velvet. Crash or coarse linen will not be any the worse 
for unpicking. You must insert the sharp point of your 
scissors under the stitches, and cut through them in all 
directions, then pull out from the back of the stuff. Even 
after you have picked as cleanly as possible, there will still 



48 ART-NEEDLEWORK. 

remain a film of color caused by the slender filaments re- 1 

maining in the web. This you may get rid of by brush- 
ing once or twice with a clean, small clothes-brush. 

When it is necessary to secure the fastenings-off and 
the ends of the threads, a coating of thick paste or gum 
should be passed over the back of the work. 

When your design is all filled in, your work, unless you 
are a very skilful hand, cannot be considered finished. 
You must go carefully over it, filling up the bare spots and 
thin places, here drawing a stitch tighter, there making 
one looser. The surfaces should have the smooth, rich, 
even effect of velvet ; and the trouble taken to secure this 
end is as little thrown away as are the " finishing touches " 
a painter gives his picture. Any one who really loves her 
work will take a peculiar pleasure in thus completing it, 
and making every portion as perfect as it is possible for 
it to be. 

Do not forget the directions on p. 33 for the careful 
use of paste in applique work. The outline should be 
already drawn on the foundation ; so that the figure cut 
out can be placed in exactly the right position, and it 
should be done with £;reat care and neatness. 



CHAPTER V. 

COLOR AND DESIGN IN ORNAMENTAL NEEDLEWORK. 

" We see in needlework and embroiderie, that it is more pleasing to have 
a lively work upon a sad and solemn ground, than to have a dark and melan- 
choly work'upon a lightsome ground." — Bacon. 

I. COLOR. 

IT has been asserted, we do not presume to say with 
how much of justice, that the English school of paint- 
ing is remarkable for fine color. A cynic might be dis- 
posed to say that it is a pity a national characteristic so 
valuable should be displayed only on canvases, be shut up 
in studios and galleries, be revealed only to a few, whilst 
in daily life, in our dwellings and in our dresses, it is con- 
spicuous chiefly by its absence. And we are disposed to 
agree with the cynic. We are not, however, inclined to 
think that this deficiency arises from a natural depravity 
of taste inherent in the Anglo-Saxon race, but rather from 
sheer stupidity, laziness, carelessness, and indifference. 
It is supposed that every woman is fond of dress, and 
it is charged upon us that women are extravagantly 
fond of it. Yet but few women know how to dress be- 
comingly. Many a woman is aware of this defect, and 
strives to gain instruction how she may correct it. She 
believes what she is told, and, above all, what she sees in 
print. For instance, a girl with a sallow skin, pale eyes, 
and neutral-tinted hair, reads in a book that blue is becom- 

49 



50 ART-NEEDLEWORK. 

ing to fair complexions. It is, indeed, a tradition, an ac- 
cepted canon of good taste, that blues and blondes are 
justly formed to meet by nature. So straightway she goes 
and clothes herself in blue, generally with the most disas- 
trous result. She does not observe that the blue reflected 
tones intensify the leaden grays in the shadows of the 
carnations, and neutralize their rosy tints ; and she wears 
the hideous garment with the placid contentment of igno 
ranee. 

It is impossible to lay down rules and laws for every 
color in embroidery : the shades and tones of color are so 
numerous and so varied that description is of little use, 
and prescription of none at all. 

In painting, the artist can produce or alter colors to an 
unlimited extent by mixing his pigments or glazing one 
over another ; but the embroiderer's colors are fixed, and 
the only way in which he can subdue and change them is 
by juxtaposition and proportion. 

We can no more define a color in words than we can 
define a curve or the timbre of a musical sound. Nor can 
we precisely order color, and scientifically distribute its 
proportions. Study, by all means, whatever works on 
color you can obtain ; but in practice you must be guided 
chiefly by your eye and your good taste. If your eye, 
however, be deficient, no theories nor science in the world 
will help you. You may, of course, improve your taste by 
the study of fine color ; but if you have not a normal eye, — 
if, for instance, cool crimson looks to you much the same 
as hot orange, — you can scarcely be expected to turn out 
a piece of work agreeable to the majority of your fellow- 
creatures. Unfortunately few people are aware of their 
deficiences in this respect : a scheme of color looks rich 
and harmonious to them, and they cannot understand why 
to others it should appear bad. 



COLOR AND DESIGN. 5 I 

A great authority on color says, that, to be harmonious, 
primaries of equal intensity must exist in the proportions 
of three yellow, five red, and eight blue — integrally six- 
teen ; the secondaries in the proportions of eight orange, 
thirteen purple, eleven green — integrally thirty-two ; the 
tertiaries, citrine (compound of orange and green) nine- 
teen, russet (orange and purple) twenty-one, olive (green 
and purple) twenty-four — integrally sixty-four. It follows, 
therefore, that each secondary, being a compound of two 
primaries, is neutralized by the remaining primary in the 
same proportions, — thus eight of orange by eight of blue, 
eleven of green by five of red, thirteen of purple by three 
of yellow. The tertiaries are neutralized by the second- 
aries in the same proportion. Of course the above propo- 
sitions suppose the colors to be used in their prismatic 
intensities ; but as hundreds, we may rather say thou- 
sands, of shades and tones are in daily use in dress and 
decoration, we must, after all, fall back upon ourselves, 
our individual tastes, and our experience. Experience 
tells us that blue is a cold, hard, disagreeable color, and 
when used in combination it should be employed in a very 
small proportion. The great artists teach us this both by 
precept and example. Sir Joshua Reynolds says a great 
mass of pure blue in a picture is destruction to its har- 
mony. Gainsborough set himself to work to refute this 
theory in the famous portrait known as the "Blue Boy," 
but he only confirmed it. His blues are so broken and 
changed by reflections and shadows, and so surrounded by 
the yellows and browns of the background, that it is evi- 
dent that he has only evaded the difficulty, not overcome 
it.^ The late Mr. Owen Jones, a scientific colorist and a 

* The book on Greek Ornament, published by Tilton & Co., gives admirable hints of 
color. 



5 2 ART-NEEDLE WORK. 

true artist, tells us, that, in the great Exhibition of 185 1, 
he used the primitive colors, in the proportions stated 
above, for the decoration of the girders of the roof, and 
with the happiest result so long as the light was tempered 
by the canvas covering. When, however, this was re- 
moved, the strong daylight completely extinguished the 
red and yellow, and the third primary alone could be seen. 
The aerial effect was entirely lost ; and, as it became im- 
possible to distinguish one girder from another, the nave 
appeared to be shortened by one or two hundred feet. 

It is tolerably clear, therefore, that if in a piece of em- 
broidery, considered only with reference to itself, we use 
blue in the large proportion indicated in the foregoing 
proposition, we shall not do well. 

Color in embroidery, however, depends upon so many 
conditions, that the most general advice only can be given. 
We may tell the worker that crewel used on "crash " may 
be used in much more vivid tints than upon fine white 
linen. The neutral color of "crash," and the broken grays 
induced by the roughness of its surface, tend to harmonize 
what may be placed upon it. Mixed and broken tints will 
look better on the white. A piece of embroidery for an 
anti-macassar that is intended to light up a dark corner, 
may consist of bright colors and strong contrasts, while 
one that is full in the light should be more neutral-tinted. 
A piece of embroidery may be used for the purpose of 
gathering up, as it were, of focussing, the color of the sur- 
rounding decorations, by repeating them in fainter and 
brighter, or darker and brighter, tones. For instance, in a 
room of which the prevailing color is deep crimson, a chair 
or table-cover or anti-macassar may be placed en evidence 
worked in pale crimson, and the effect heightened by a 
little pink of the same tone. 



COLOR AND DESIGN. 53 

To return, however, to our primaries and secondaries. 
Yellow is the color the most akin to light, and red stands 
about midway between yellow and blue in this respect. 
Where you want warmth and light, there it is well to make 
your-prevailing. color yellow.' 

Each primary, as is well known, has a complementary 
color, composed of the other two primaries : thus green 
is the complementary of red, purple of yellow, and orange 
of blue. A primary and its complementary form a full 
and harmonious contrast. The primaries, indeed, reflect 
their complementaries in a certain proportion ; as, in 
acoustics, when a fundamental note is sounded, its har- 
monics sound also. The primaries, however well propor- 
tioned in quantity and intensity, do not produce an har- 
monious effect : yet if the contrasts are multiplied by being 
repeated in small quantities, the relative proportions being 
observed, black and white being added, and distance and 
light helping to blend the component colors, a very agree- 
able result may be produced. The Egyptians, in the deco- 
ration of their temples, made use of this system of color. 

Brilliancy does not by any means depend on the primi- 
tive colors, which, if not well proportioned, will appear 
dull and heavy, as well as gaudy and discordant, while the 
dull and heavy tertiaries may, on the other hand, if well 
arranged, produce an effect almost brilliant. 

Always remember that when a primary is tinged with 
another primary, and contrasted with a secondary, the sec- 
ondary must have a tinge of the third primary. For in- 
stance : simple red may be used with pure green ; but 
scarlet, which is red tinged with yellow, must have a blue 

' Ruskin is of opinion that the first approach to viciousness of color in any master is indi- 
cated by a prevalence of purple and an absence of yellow; that yellow in Nature is more gen- 
erally contrasted with black than purple, and that this contrast has been employed with success 
by Turner and Rubens. 



54 ART-NEEDLEWORK. 

green ; and crimson, or red tinged with blue, must have a 
yellow green. 

Always remember, too, that colors on a light ground 
appear darker, and, on a dark ground lighter. 

Colors placed in juxtaposition re-act upon one another, 
and acquire each a tinge of the other. Neutral colors 
reflect the complementaries of colors on which they are 
placed. Neutral gray, for example, on an orange ground, 
acquires a tinge of blue, of which orange is the comple- 
mentary color. On a green ground, the gray becomes red- 
dish ; on yellow ground, violet ; on a blue ground, orange ; 
while a neutral ground has a very subduing and harmoniz- 
ing effect on the colors placed on it. 

If you are in doubt as to any colors harmonizing, it is a 
good plan to make a rough sketch on paper in the same 
colors as the material you wish to use. If this sketch does 
not satisfy you, try some other scheme of color. It is 
difificult to copy colored designs in worsted or silk, as you 
often cannot get shades to match : it is therefore better to 
work from uncolored designs, and experiment in color in 
the way we recommend. 

Light and shade should never appear in embroidery, ex- 
cept in pieces that are to be looked at as pictures, which is 
not the legitimate use of embroidery. In dress and deco- 
ration, textile fabrics necessarily change position and light ; 
so that sometimes, if light and shade were used, the real 
light would fall on the part represented in shadow, and the 
high lights of the work would fall into the shade, and the 
relation of one to the other be falsified. Study specimens 
of embroidery whenever you can, and endeavor to ascer- 
tain the principle upon which they have been executed. It 
may not be amiss to describe here one or two, although, as 
we have observed above, we can never convey an exact 



COLOR AND DESIGN. 55 

idea of color in words. Some old Spanish embroidered 
decorations of a room were sold in London a short time 
ago. They were of red satin, and the pattern was of 
yellow satin applique on the red. This sounds gaudy 
enough in words : in fact, however, the relative quantities 
were nicely proportioned, and the two colors of shades 
that met agreeably were harmonized by a white cord that 
bordered the yellow satin applique. This cord was sewn 
on principally with white sewing-silk : here and there, how- 
ever, pea-green silk was introduced, and blue in a very 
minute proportion. The whole effect was rich and pleasant. 
A fragment of embroidery, date about 1750, gives an 
admirable subject for study. It is the edge of a petticoat, 
about eight inches deep, and is of white satin. The mate- 
rial is ravelled out in a fringe at the bottom ; then comes 
a line, about an eighth of an inch wide, in dark red floss, 
then a row of disks shaded in a dark and a light green ; 
above these, and touching one another, are two broader 
lines of red, one the same color as the first, the other 
paler ; then we have a representation of moss worked in 
chenille of three shades of green, and from this mossy 
ground spring roses, carnations, forget-me-nots, and leafy 
sprays. This part is treated quite decoratively ; and no 
attempt is made to preserve the natural proportions of the 
flowers in relation to each other, or to their stems and 
leaves. In the sprays one or two leaves are of peach- 
blossom color. Above this row of flowers are branches in 
festoons, of which the stems are olive-brown, the leaves 
shaded, or rather, we should say, party-colored, with peach- 
blossom inclining to pink, olive-brown, and two or three 
shades of green. It will be seen that nature is no more 
strictly adhered to in color than in form. Above these 
branches is a pattern in two shades of peach-blossom, 



$6 ART-NEEDLEWORK. 

accompanied with a very little blue. Except the moss, the 
embroidery is all done in floss silk split very fine. Seen 
by candle-light this beautiful piece of work has the bril- 
liance of cut and polished gems, while the general effect 
of color is extremely rich and sweet, and would harmonize 
with almost any surroundings. A pair of mittens of a few 
years later are of tasteful workmanship : they are of soft 
open-woven white silk, and are worked principally in floss 
silk split. There is a scroll of dark green, within and 
around which are worked roses and green leaves. The 
roses are worked in embroidery-silk, and are considerably 
raised : there are four altogether, two red, one pink, and 
one yellow. Springing from the scroll are ornaments in 
blue, orange, and violet, all these colors, however, in very 
small proportion : the stalks and veins are of fine gold- 
thread, which also forms an outline round the scrolls and 
two sprays of round red berries that spring from the top 
of the scroll. The color is really beautiful, and is further 
harmonized by the gray tint produced by shadows in the 
open-work of the foundation. 

When working in crewels we would advise the worker 
to calculate carefully how much of each color she will 
require, and to get it all at once, for the dyes seldom re- 
peat themselves in exactly the same intensity, and thus 
matching becomes difficult. In crewels, the only color 
that can be depended upon with absolute certainty is the 
military scarlet. The number of shades and tones in 
crewels to be found in England is enormous, one house 
of business alone keeping one hundred and thirty-three 
shades of green in stock ; other houses keep, perhaps, as 
many ; and, being served by different dyers, the colors are 
by no means the same. It is to be hoped, that, as the art 
of embroidery is more generally cultivated here, that one 



COLOR AND DESIGN. 57 

can more easily obtain these varieties of shades. It is a 
good plan, when copying a flower, to take a blossom to the 
crewel-shop, and match its color as nearly as possible : 
often this may be done exactly. The shades of crimson, 
ranging from nearly black to nearly white, are sweeter and 
cooler in crewels than in any other material ; the scarlets, 
which are almost as numerous, are brighter and purer ; 
while the deliciousness of certain blue greens cannot be 
surpassed. The reader is implored to avoid the harsh 
magenta reds, and the cold, hard violets and mauves, of the 
aniline dyes, so common a few years ago. In the best 
warehouses, however, these vicious tints are not to be 
found. 

II, DESIGN. 

In a book on needlework written about fifty years ago, 
it is asserted that embroidery on stuffs in long-stitch 
should not be attempted except by persons who are well 
practised in drawing, the less accomplished women being 
recommended to keep to canvas-work and Berlin wool. 
It would seem that very few draughtswomen existed in 
those days ; for, while minute instructions are given for 
wool-work, embroidery is quite passed over. We cannot, 
however, agree with the writer, that if people cannot draw 
neither shall they embroider, though certainly a knowledge 
of the principles of design, and some skill in drawing, are 
of immense advantage. We recommend, therefore, that 
the practice of di awing and of needlework should go 
hand in hand. Ornamental designs and outlines of natural 
flowers may be copied, and at the same time the worker 
should endeavor to make drawings from natural leaves and 
flowers. The leaves of the azalea afford an easy and 
simple outline. The worker may soon attempt a design 



58 ART-NEEDLEWORK. 

for a kettle-holder or a mat from a sprig of this plant. 
She must not represent the leaves foreshortened or in 
perspective, but place them flatly on her paper, and en- 
deavor to keep the curves graceful and the masses as well 
balanced as possible. This balance of masses and lines is 
what is technically called "composition," and is the most 
important element of design. There are some works on 
free-hand, that the embroideress would find useful in her 
endeavors to improve herself in design drawing. The 
South-Kensington handbooks, and Plant Forms by F. E. 
Hulme, and Dresser's Principles of Decorative Design, 
are within the reach of any student in our public libraries, 
and would be of help in suggestions of form and color. 

As every embroideress will occasionally require to adapt 
designs and patterns, we may here give a few hints as to 
how to do so ; observing, however, that it by no means 
comes within the scope of our present intention to give 
instructions in drawing. You have, we will say, a draw- 
ing of a branch of orange-tree which you wish to utilize 
for an anti-macassar, but you cannot tell whether it will 
compose well in the space you have at command. Take 
a piece of paper the size of the portion of stuff you wish 
to cover, and divide it by lines into four equal parts. 
Sketch roughly in charcoal the branch of orange ; it is 
probably copied from nature, and you find that the masses 
of form only fill up two squares, while one is barely 
touched and the other empty. Alter the inclination of the 
stalk, add more fruit or leaves or twigs on the one hand, 
and take them away on the other ; when you have done 
your very best, faint off the charcoal with a handkerchief, 
and go over the outline with chalk or pencil. If a square 
obstinately remain empty, you may touch in a butterfly or 
a bird. Very small objects, if discreetly placed, will fill 



COLOR AND DESIGN. 59 

up large spaces. A careful observation of the common 
Japanese screens will be very useful in this direction. 
The artful way in which the Japanese will cover a large 
surface with the fewest possible touches is surprismg, and 
we cannot do better than take lessons from them. Econ- 
omy in design is not our strong point : we are sadly given 
to overloading, or else we fall into the opposite extreme 
of meagreness, which is perhaps even a worse fault. 

Designs may be enlarged or reduced by means of a 
proportional compass. It is, however, not very safe to 
alter the size of a design, as what looks well enough in a 
large pattern is not always suitable for a small one, and 
vice versa. 

Do not mix the style of one epoch or nationality with 
another. It may be seen both in specimens of ancient 
embroideries and in representations of it in paintings, that 
the patterns used in needlework were, allowing for the 
technical differences of the art, similar to those used for 
glass and wall painting, and manuscript illumination. We 
have no distinctive nineteenth-century style, and too often 
we make an unmeaning jumble ; but we should as far as 
possible assimilate our needlework to the style of the room 
we wish to decorate. 

In conclusion, we should like to warn our readers against 
the extremes into which fashion loves to lead us. Just 
now there is a mania for what is called «r/-needlework, 
of which some of the manifestations are any thing but 
artistic. In illustration of the danger into which the em- 
broiderer may fall, we give the description of two arti- 
cles which we have lately been distressed by seeing. One 
of these was an anti-macassar worked on crash, and pre- 
sented at its lower end three dandelions all in a row, — 
pre-Raphaelite dandelions, stiff and bolt upright, all exactly 



6o ART-NEEDLEWORK. 

alike and all hideous. The other piece of work, intended 
for a mantlepiece valance, was also on crash, — a poincettia 
was depicted springing out of nothing, and sticking out its 
leaves stiffly enough. There were no sweet and flowing 
curves : all was angularity and jerkiness. This frightful 
plant was repeated_^'z;^ times without any variation. These 
two hideous specimens were bought and sold under the 
name of art-embroidery ! 



CHAPTER VL 

DESCRIPTION OF PATTERNS. — ARTICLES THAT MAY BE 
EMBROIDERED. 

WE enclose a few designs that will serve for use or 
suggestion. Any workwoman with any artistic 
skill will be glad to make her own designs ; but, until she 
has some practice in the stitch, she will be very glad to 
help herself to some simple patterns. These could be used 
for something small, or could be repeated often for a fire- 
place lambrequin, or for curtains, or a tablecloth border, 
or scattered over a tidy. 

Plate i. Orange Pattern. — This pattern is very 
effective. Work an outline round the orange, and the 
leaves also, of very dark green, almost black. Begin the 
orange with the outline, and work inward in concentric 
circles. The leaves should be of a dark shade ; and the 
little tips of the buds that appear are to be done in white. 

Plate 2, Fig. i. Primroses. — These two designs 
are not to be worked together, but will answer for many 
purposes. The primroses. Fig. i, should be done in pale 
yellow, the calyx of the flowers in a yellow green scarcely 
darker than the flower, and the leaves of a yellowish 
green. These little bunches should be put not too far 
from each other, and would be very pretty on crash across 
the end of a chair-back, or for the border of a table-cloth 
on cloth or serge. This pattern and the other could 
easily be enlarged. 

Plate 2, Fig. 2, Daisies. — These could be placed 
upon a round footstool, the pattern repeated six times ; 
or it would make a pretty border, with perhaps a sheaf 

61 



62 ART-NEEDLEWORK. 

of green leaves between each bunch. The tips of the 
buds should be worked in pink, the flowers white, leaves 
soft olive-green. 

Plate 3, Fig. i. — The partridge berries and leaves 
are very pretty for a narrow border. Or this pattern 
would answer for a D'oyley. The berries should be done 
with the stitch going round and round from the outline. 
A pretty effect is produced by taking some of the deepest 
red shade used in the berries for the upper outline of the 
flowers. 

Plate 3, Fig. 2. — The small flower can be used in 
the same way, or could be made to alternate with Fig. i 
to cover a chair-back. To be done in outline, in blue on 
gray linen crash, or in deep yellow for a yellowish ground, 
or "powdered ; '' that is, scattered over any ground. 

Fig. 3. — The butterfly is useful to fill a vacant place, 
and add liveliness to a piece of work ; and admits of almost 
any coloring that is needed to set off the rest of the work. 

Plate 4 presents a conventional design that is favorable 
for outline work in two shades, if desired. It can be used 
either in repetition for a border, or separately. In the 
latter case the trefoils should be left out, as well as the 
upper scroll-work. 

Plate 5 is pretty either for outline work, or to be filled 
in. It would form the corners and border of a chair-back, 
alternating with the smaller branch, Fig. 2, plate 3, scat- 
tered over the ground ; or it could be often repeated, 
brought together close enough to be connected for a bor- 
der for a table-cloth. 

The number of objects for which embroidery may be 
used as a decoration is enormous. From the handsome 
frieze round the walls of a lordly reception-room, to the 
humble kettle-holder hanging by the squeezed-up fireplace 



DESCRIPTION OF PATTERNS. 6^ 

in a poor old woman's attic, is a wide range enough ; and 
it may not, perhaps, be out of place if we mention some 
of these articles. 

We begin, of course, with anti-macassars, which are the 
first things that feminine minds and fingers are exercised 
upon. Let us be thankful that crewels and crash have 
banished (forever we will hope) those clinging and prick- 
ling horrors in white cotton crochet and knitting that have 
for so many years disfigured our sitting-rooms, and annoyed 
ourselves. They are now nearly always executed in crash 
or coarse towelling. Cushions follow next in order of 
numerousness ; then we have vide-poches, footstools, cur- 
tains, chairs, chimney-valances and curtains, and portieres. 
Portieres are sometimes embroidered all over, whereas 
curtains usually only have the border embroidered ; for the 
reason that a full light often falls on a portiere, whereas 
window-curtains are illuminated only at the edges. The 
open shelves of cabinets and etaghcs have sometimes little 
curtains hung over them : these must follow the general 
decoration of the room in color and style, but should be of 
richer materials and more elaborately worked ; they are 
curtains in miniature, and, like all miniatures, should be 
highly finished. Screens afford great scope to the artist in 
embroidery. Banner-screens may be executed in almost 
any material. Miniature banner-screens on gilt stands, 
and used to keep the light of a lamp from the eyes, should 
always be made of rich silk, and nicely lined and finished 
off. Standing screens in frames may more nearly approach 
to a picture in design and finish, though the worker should 
still keep within the limits of pure decoration. Many of 
our readers will remember a standing-screen in the Em- 
press's bed-room at Fontainebleau, — a beautiful specimen 
of Lyons embroidery, with storks thereon depicted; but in 



64 ART-NEEDLEWORK. 

which nature, though faithfully followed, is yet subordinated 
to the rules of decorative art. 

For bedrooms, crash, linen, and cretonne appliqu6 are 
the most appropriate materials for decoration. Besides 
the ordinary articles of furniture, very pretty suites may 
be ■ made, consisting of toilet-covers, toilet-mats, night- 
dress cases, watch-pockets, and bed-covers. 

The small articles suitable for presents and fancy bazaars, 
which may be embroidered, are also numerous. In this 
list we have penwipers, sachets, scent-bags, smoking-caps,^ 
tobacco-pouches, letter and ticket cases, kettle-holders, tea- 
cosies, five-o'clock-tea cloths, d'oyleys, and dressing-cases. 

Purses have been to a great degree superseded by porte- 
monnaies. This is rather a pity, for embroidered purses 
were very pretty things, and a negative advantage attended 
their use : for, when you lose a purse, you lose only money ; 
but, when you lose a porte-monnaie, you lose, as well as 
coin, notes, checks, letters, stamps, and a host of other 
things which people are in the habit of cramming into its 
numerous little pockets. Fashion, however, seems inclined 
to give a turn to embroidered purses. These may be made 
in silk, satin, or velvet, and should be lined in all cases 
with a thin but solid silk, which can be renewed easily. 
They may be made long with rings and tassels, or short 
with clasps, or with bars and a ring. Money-bags for keep- 
ing coin in cash-boxes are also embroidered : they are 
shaped like the little square canvas bags used by bankers, 
and have a broad hem and running strings. The City 
Purse of London, which is used on certain state occasions, 

^ Long before smoking became a habit, the smoking-cap was worn. It was, however, 
known by another name, and was called a " nightcap." Nightcaps were sometimes made of 
velvet richly embroidered, sometimes of cloth of gold or silver, and were certainly not used 
for sleeping in, though called nightcaps. Real sleeping nightcaps were of linen, ornamented 
with white embroidery and lace. Nightcaps of both kinds were commonly given as presents 
by ladies, who worked them with their own fair hands. 



DESCRIPTION OF PATTERNS. 6$ 

is of this kind, only considerably larger. It is of crimson 
velvet wrought with gold, and is drawn up with gold cords 
that terminate in tassels. It dates from the fifteenth cen- 
tury. 

Fashion, in decreeing that dress-skirts shall be made too 
tight to the figure to admit of pockets, has brought into 
use outside loose pockets, like those worn in the middle 
ages by both sexes, and called generally gipcieres. These 
articles, with suspending bands and girdles, afford great op- 
portunity for the display of taste and skill in embroidery ; 
and we have seen some very pretty ones. Very little in- 
vention, however, has been shown in their forms, which are 
nearly always the same. Sashes and scarfs, fichus and cra- 
vat-ends, invite decoration by embroidery. They may be 
of cashmere, of silk, of gauze, of crepe, and of tulle. Mit- 
tens formerly were often beautifully embroidered. It is to 
be wished that the fashion of wearing pretty mittens might 
come up again. Nowadays, if a lady wishes to keep her 
hands warm in the house, she wears either gloves which 
are inconvenient, or worsted knitted mittens which are 
ugly and out of place if she be prettily dressed. 

Aprons may be embroidered in almost every material, 
and may be elaborately worked. We have seen some 
working-aprons of white linen, made with a bib, and 
embroidered in crewels, which are as pretty and becom- 
ing as they are useful. 

Court-trains and petticoats, cuirasses, and ladies' waist- 
coats, are now much adorned with needlework. Gowns 
for every-day wear are better not embroidered. We have 
seen ladies wearing serge dresses embroidered with crewels, 
but the effect was not happy. They looked as if they had 
taken their curtains and table-covers, and made them up 
into a garment. In these cases, though, the embroidery 



^ ART-NEEDLEWORK. 

was done on the gowns, and the stuff was pulled. If cuffs 
and collars and bands had been embroidered separately, 
and put on like trimming, the dresses would have looked 
much better. 

Little children's summer dresses in crash and twilled 
cotton may be embroidered in crewels, but only one color 
in one or two shades should be used. 

Carriage-wraps made of crash, embroidered with crewels, 
are handsome. The embroidery runs round the edges, 
which afterwards are bound together with the lining with 
strong braid of a color harmonizing with those of the 
embroidery. Ivy, hop, or vine leaves make a suitable 
design for this purpose, where brilliant color would be out 
of place. The crash should also be of rather a dark shade, 
to avoid the disagreeably dazzling effect of any thing ap- 
proaching to white in very sunny weather. These car- 
riage wraps are very cool and light, and especially suitable 
for pony-phaetons. 

There is one article of costume which we had nearly 
forgotten ; viz., little dogs' great-coats, which may be em- 
broidered with armorial bearings, monograms, and any 
fanciful device the owner can invent. Last winter we saw 
a little Italian greyhound almost as gorgeous as an Indian 
prince, in a sky-blue velvet coat embroidered all over with 
dragons in crimson and silver and gold ; but the extreme 
gracefulness and utter unconsciousness of the wearer en- 
abled him to look well even in this trying costume. 

After all this instruction, we must add that nothing can 
be attained without close observation, not only of patterns, 
but of nature ; and more especially can nothing satisfactory 
be reached without patient practice. 

And we would advise any one within reach of a school 
of embroidery to take lessons. It will not require much 



DESCRIPTION OF PATTERNS. 67 

time or expense ; and the practice of the lessons, and ad- 
vice in the use of the several stitches, will give the ease of 
work which will help even the most original of artists. 

In all our principal cities these schools are being es- 
tablished, and an opportunity is given for acquiring the 
best instruction. Also those who need to find a sale for 
their work will often find at these schools a market too, 
and are in the way of receiving orders for work, which 
would be of great help to them. 

The modern workers do not have as much of one 
certain commodity that the Egyptians, Greeks, and the 
East-Indian and mediaeval workers, possessed ; that is, we 
all of us complain that we have no time ! But it will be a 
great blessing for our overworked American civilization, 
if we can recognize the charm of this sedative employment, 
which, while it calms the nerves, gives play to the imagi- 
nation. And we hope that our artistic workwomen will 
be able to found for us the American school of embroidery 
which shall be as much admired as it is original. 

The series of hand-books of which this volume forms the 
first number will be devoted to instruction in all forms of 
artistic handiwork. We hope that the love for this sort 
of work is increasing, and that it will be something higher 
and more elevating than the mere torturing of wool into 
fantastic forms over crochet and knitting needles. In the 
days of the middle ages, women, in the leisure of their 
convents and solitary castles, were able to carry out and 
complete wonderful works of taste and skill. We can 
take advantage of their hours of practice and study, and 
these volumes will bring forward many of the results of 
the painstaking work of this artistic period.^ The publish- 
ers propose to assist such work by issuing valuable designs 
on paper and on muslin. 

1 A list will be sent to any address on application. 



a?ii_ia?onsr's 
Transparent Embroidery Patterns. 



These Transparent Patterns are, by an ingenious process, drawn directly 
upon a prepared muslin, and the advantages in using this new invention are 
many, and easy to be seen. The first and great advantage is that it does 
away with all tracing materials and impression paper, which soils both the hands 
and the material to be embroidered. These Patterns can be fastened by basting 
directly to the material and worked over; when the work is completed, the 
threads can be easily drawn out. Second : in using the patterns in this way, 
one is sure of absolute accuracy, while the steadiest hand may slip when using 
tracing or impression paper. Third : the muslin serves as a protection in work- 
ing any delicate material. Where the pattern is worked over, it will facilitate 
drawing the threads to make them as short as possible, which must be done 
by cutting around the pattern and removing all the superfluous material. 

HOW TO TRANSFER. 

As these patterns may be so easily obtained, it would seem a waste of time 
to make a transfer, but when it is desirable to preserve the patterns for fur- 
ther use, baste directly to the material to be worked upon, then go over the 
lines carefully with a fine pointed No. 3 lead pencil in the same manner one 
would make a tracing. The pattern being transparent, one may see just what 
she is doing, and they are much easier to adjust than the paper patterns and 
impression paper, and the work may be laid aside when partially traced, with- 
out any danger of deranging it. Upon removing the muslin the design will 
appear on the material. If it is desirable to bring the lines out more clearly, 
go over them a second time without the pattern. In transferring to black, or 
very dark material, use chalk or a colored pencil ; this will give a better transfer 
with very much less trouble than any other method, besides saving the hands 
and material from being soiled, as is the case when impression paper is used. 

In working out a transfer, lay the materials on some hard smooth surface ; 
a marble-top table is to be preferred. 

S. W. TILTON & CO., Publishers, Boston. 




PLATE I. 




Fig. I. 



I 




Fig. 2. 
PLATE II. 




Fig. I. 




Fig. 2. 




Fig. 3- 
PLATE III. 




PLATE IV. 




PLATE V. 



DESIGNS IN OUTLINE 



FOR 



ART- NEEDLEWORK. 



EDITED BY 

LUCRETIA P. HALE. 



ACCOMPANIED WITH 



INSTRUCTIONS IN DR'iWING, TRACING, AND TRANSFERRING 
PATTERNS, AND DIRECTIONS FOR STITCH, ETC. 



COP\T^IGHT. 

S. W. TILTON & CO., PUBLISHERS, 

BOSTON. 

1879. 



TILTON'S NEEDLEWORK SERIES. 



No. I. 

ART-NEEDLEWORK FOR DECORATIVE EMBROI- 
DERY. A Guide to Embroidery in Crewels, Silks, Applique, 
&c., with illustrated instructions as to Stitches, Satin Stitch and 
South Kensington Stitch. Also several designs for Patterns. 

Edited by LUCRLTIA P. Hale. Price 50 cts. 

No. II. 

ART-NEEDLEWORK. — POINT- LACE. With illustrations 
of Stitches and Valuable Patterns. . By LUCRETIA P. Hale. 

Price 50 cts. 

No. III. 

ART NEEDLEWORK, MORE STITCHES FOR DECO- 
RATIVE EMBROIDERY. Containing Holbein, Punto, Tirato 
(drawn work), Vienna Cross Stitch, Double Piatt Stitch, and 
Cordonnet, and eighty illustrations and patterns. By LucRETiA 

P. PIalk. Price 50 cts. 

No. IV. 

PLAIN NEEDLEWORK, MENDING, KNITTING, AND 

DARNING FOR ALL, at Home and in Schools; giving in- 
struction in Plain Sewing, &c., the Management of Classes, with 
twenty illustrations. Compiled from the best English works on 
these subjects, with some additional suggestions by the American 
editor. Edited by LucRETiA P. Hale. Price 50 cts. 

, S. W. TiLTON & Co., Publishers, Boston. 



For Sale at our OfSce, 333 Washington Street, up one fiiglit; or sent by maa to ar.y 
address on receipt of price. 



OUTLINE DESIGNS FOR ART- 
NEEDLEWORK. 



In presenting the designs described in these pages, the 
publishers desire to state, that they propose to issue the 
most desirable and artistic patterns for art-needlework 
which can be produced, as it is a field in which the 
highest style of art may be developed. 

After the artist has selected her pattern, it is quite 
important that it should be correctly transferred to the 
material to be worked upon. This requires great care ; 
and, as there are several methods by which the transfer 
may be made, we will give those in common use. 

Firstly, by the use of impression or transfer paper. 

Lay the impression-paper over the material to which it 
is desired to transfer the pattern ; over this place a piece 
of tissue or thin paper, then the design to be transferred ; 
baste or fasten all of these securely together, so that the 
pattern shall not slip out of place ; then lay them on some 
hard smooth surface ; there is nothing better for this pur- 
pose than a marble-top table. Go over the lines of the 
design with a hard, fine point : the writer usually em- 
ploys a hard lead-pencil for this work, and renews the 
point as it becomes coarse ; a bodkin or stiletto carefully 
pointed is by some regarded as even better, and it will 
save the design from pencil-marks. Before removing the 

3 



4 OUTLINE DESIGNS FOR. ART-NEEDLEWORK. 

pattern and impression-paper entirely from the material, 
it will be well to examine and see if the transfer has been 
wholly made and is perfect. In order to do this, remove 
the fastenings from three sides, so that the design may 
be raised when the examination can be made; and, if it is 
necessary to retouch it in any part, the whole can be re- 
placed in its original position. The object in placing the 
tissue-paper between the material and design is to protect 
the design : as the transfer-paper will give an impression 
from each side ; and, unless protected, the pattern will re- 
ceive an impression of the design on its reverse side, which 
is not always to be desired. This method cannot be used 
to advantage on fine work, as it will soil the material; but 
for coarse work it may be used. 

Another method, which takes more time, is to prick 
holes with a pin through the outline of the pattern. Lay 
the pattern on the material to be used, and rub pounce 
over it ; or white chalk on woollen materials, or charcoal- 
powder on linen, can be used. The outline thus obtained 
must be marked out with Chinese white or indigo. 

As it is slow work to prick the holes, they can be con- 
veniently made by passing the outline of the pattern 
under the needle of a sewing-machine, — of course with- 
out thread. 

Third method is to trace the design on transparent 
paper, baste the paper on the work, and outline the pat- 
tern with long running-stitches, and then tear away the 
tracing-paper ; or the tracing-paper may be allowed to re- 
main, and the work itself done over the tracing-paper ; or 
in some cases, if there is no desire to preserve the pattern, 
it can be itself basted on the work, and its design outlined 
with basting-thread, as just suggested for tracing-paper, 
and the paper torn away ; or the design can be worked 



OUTLINE DESIGNS FOR ART-NEEDLEWORK. 5 

over on the pattern. This would be possible only for cer- 
tain designs, to be worked only in outline. 

•These directions apply to the patterns that accompany 
this hand-book ; but, where a pattern is taken from a valu- 
able book or borrowed from a friend, it must be first traced 
upon tracing-paper, and the copy laid upon the impression- 
paper, as the direct marking upon it might injure the ori- 
ginal design, unless the previously described method is 
used. 

If carefully treated, indeed, the accompanying designs 
can be used over and over again in transferring. 

These methods, indeed, all require time, and are slow 
and tedious in their processes. The most simple method, 
therefore, is to make use of 

TILTON'S TRANSPARENT EMBROIDERY PATTERNS. 

These transparent patterns are, by an ingenious process, 
drawn directly upon a prepared muslin ; and the advan- 
tages in using thi-s new invention are many, and easy to 
be seen. The first and great advantage is, that it does 
away with all tracing-materials, and the impression-paper 
which soils both the hands and the material to be embroi- 
dered. These patterns can be fastened by basting directly 
to the material, and worked over : when the work is com- 
pleted, the threads can be easily drawn out. Secondly, in 
using the patterns in this way, one is sure of absolute 
accuracy, while the steadiest hand may slip when using 
tracing or impression paper. Thirdly, the muslin serves 
as a protection in working any delicate material. Where 
the pattern is worked over, it will facilitate drawing the 
threads to make them as short as possible; which must be 
done by cutting around the pattern, and removing all the 
superfluous material. 



6 OUTLINE DESIGNS FOR ART-NEEDLEWORK. 
HOW TO TRANSFER MUSLIN PATTERNS. 

As these patterns may be so easily obtained, it would 
seem a waste of time to make a transfer ; but, when it is 
desirable to preserve the patterns for further use, baste 
directly to the material to be worked upon, then go over 
the lines carefully with a fine-pointed No. 3 lead-pencil in 
the same manner as in making a tracing. The patterns 
being transparent, the worker may see just what she is 
doing. They are much easier to adjust than the paper 
patterns and impression-paper ; and the work may be laid 
aside when partially traced, without any danger of deran- 
ging it. Upon removing the muslin, the design will appear 
on the material. If it is desirable to bring the lines out 
more clearly, go over them a second time without the 
pattern. In transferring to black or very dark material, 
use chalk or a colored pencil : this will give a better trans- 
fer with very much less trouble than- any other method, 
besides saving the hands and material from being soiled, 
as is the case when impression-paper is used. 

In working out a transfer, lay the materials on some 
hard, smooth surface: a marble-top table is to be pre- 
ferred. 



OUTLINE DESIGNS FOR ART-NEEDLEWORK. / 

MATERIALS. 
WOOLLEN OR SILK. 

The thicker materials to work upon can now be found 
in greater variety here than the linen materials. In all 
the shops devoted to such purposes, and especially at the 
salesrooms of our Decorative-Art Societies, satin sheet- 
ings, diagonal cloths, serges, &c., can be found in suitable 
colors, and adapted to various purposes. The choice of 
these materials has to depend \\\)0\\ the purpose intended, 
£Uid great care should be taken to adapt the colors of the 
crewels or silks used to the tone of the material worked 
upon. For silk work, satin and plush are exceedingly 
handsome ; and velvet is perhaps the most beautiful of all 
for a foundation. Many of these require a soft lining to 
be worked upon. A coarse flannel is useful to tack at the 
back of serge. Tilton's No. I. of Needlework Series gives 
useful directions for working on these choicer materials. 

LINEN 

The advertisements of the English papers that treat of 
embroidery, present a most attractive list of the varieties 
of linen material that can be used to work upon. There is 
the Bolton sheeting, which is a soft, wide material, suit- 
able for curtains and portieres, and even for dresses, which 
can be found in various colors. There are also the oat- 
meal sheetings, that come in every variety of color, — 
sky-blue, rose, cream, dark claret, navy blue, &c. Linen 
crash also can be found in every color. Some of these 
materials can be bought here. Linen duck, oatmeal 
sheetings, and wide crash can be found in our shops ; 
and the soft Bolton sheeting and other varieties can be 
got at our Decorative-Art Society Rooms. Doubtless, 
as the demand increases, the supply will be found. 



8 OUTLINE DESIGNS FOR ART-NEEDLEWORK. 

Meanwhile we have our own cotton flannels and un- 
bleached cottons, and there is the resource of the dye- 
house for special colors. Crash can be dyed in colors that 
are desired. We have seen very pretty use made of crash 
which had been dyed of a sky-blue. 

In choosing silks or crewels for work, beware of bright, 
vivid hues, especially of green. Sober tints of olive, sage, 
and dead-leaf color blend best together. In fact, all the 
old-fashioned shades will be found suitable, because their 
dye is not of the pure kind that makes the modern hues so 
harsh. The colors given in the directions should alway§ 
be modified to corresj^ond to the color of the material 
worked upon. 

CREWELS, EMBROIDERY, SILKS, FLOSSES, ETC. 

The variety of these materials is increasing in our shops, 
where the better crewels can usually be found. If not, 
they can be bought at the rooms of the Societies of 
Decorative Art in our larger cities. Where silks are 
mentioned in these directions, embroidery-silk or filoselle 
is intended. 

Arrasene is a new material, which has found its way 
into some of our shops. It is a combination of fibres of 
silk and worsted, resembling chenille, to be worked with a 
chenille-needle. Effective results are produced with it, 
but not so artistic as with crewels and silks. 

THE STITCH. 

It is worked the opposite way to stitching ; that is, you 
work lip the cloth instead of doivu. Make a small, length- 
way stitch ; draw your needle through the cloth about the 
centre of the stitch, on the left side of it. At first you 
will be obliged to turn the work round every time you 



OUTLINE DESIGNS FOR ART-NEEDLE IVORK. 9 

begin another row ; but, as soon as you get into the way 
of working, this will not be necessary. Or carry back the 
thread in one stitch to the point from which you started. 

Work the leaves the same direction that the fibres take 
in a natural leaf. The usual plan of such leaves as bram- 
bles is to do one side of the leaf darker than the other ; 
vein down the centre with the same, when the leaf is 
finished.' 

The centre of flowers you must do in dots by winding 
the wool once or twice round the needle, and then drawing 
the wool up, or leaving a loop, twisting it by inserting the 
needle through it, and then drawing up. Another method 
is to bring the needleful of thread to the right side of the 
work, in the exact spot where the stitch is to be. Hold 
the needle in the right hand, and with the left take up the 
thread at an inch or two from the cloth. Twist the needle 
twice or three timss round the thread, insert it in the spot 
you have drawn it through, and with the right hand draw 
the needle to the under side, gradually tightening the 
thread with the left hand : this completes the knot. This 
is useful for black berries. 

FADED SH.\DES. 

There are certain peculiar shades which it is impossible 
to buy : among others, the pale pinkish mauve for prim- 
rose-stalks. 

The proper shades may sometimes be effected thus : 
Select the bright color which nearest approaches the 
required faded shade ; place it between two pieces of glass, 
and leave it in the sun until it is bleached to the right 
tone. 

' A more detailed description of tlie stitch, illustrated, can be found in Art-Needlework, 
Part I., published by S. W. Tilton & Co., Boston, who will send a copy by mail to any address 
on receipt of price, 50 cents. 



10 OUTLINE DESIGNS FOR ART-NEEDLEWORK. 
PRESSING THE WORK. 

Pour boiling water into a shallow bowl, and hold the 
wrong side of the work towards the steam, shifting it 
about to get every part impregnated. Stretch the work 
tightly in a wooden frame, and leave it thus for several 
days. 

Or wet the work slightly on the wrong side with water 
into which a little gall has been put, and then stretch it 
on a board, with the right side uppermost ; or pin it out on 
the carpeted floor with a clean cloth underneath it. 

Or iron the work with a wet cloth between the iron and 
the wrong side of the work. The first of these plans is 
the one recommended, unless great care can be used in the 
ironing. 

WASHING. 

So much depends upon the washer, that it is hardly 
safe to say in a general way that crewel-work washes well ; 
but it ought, if good wool and proper care be used. 

Put bran, no soap nor soda, in a basin, with warm water, 
and leave the work to soak. Press it every now and then, 
but do not rub it. When clean, hang it out to dry ; do 
not wring the water out, as that would crease the work. 
Stretch on a frame when nearly dry, or iron it. 

Get the thing out of hand quickly. A little ox-gall is 
sometimes used to prevent the colors from running. 



OUTLINE DESIGNS FOR ART-NEEDLEWORK. II 



THE DESIGNS. 

It is proposed to give these designs in color, done by 
hand, which will be of great assistance in working. 

Each design is given for some especial purpose ; but 
they can all be used for different ones quite suitably. 
The mantle-piece border of Arctotis, for instance, makes a 
handsome chair-back on sheeting, and the peach-blossom 
table-cloth pattern can be used for dress-trimming. 

No especial pattern is given for a chair-back among the 
following designs ; but nearly all can be effectively used 
for that purpose, especially such a conventional one as 
No. 5. Several others, such as the flax or the tobacco- 
flower border or the poppy border of No. 6, are handsome 
as follows : Draw the pattern lengthways all down the 
linen, then at an even distance do a stripe of open linen- 
work. Let there be a strip of crewel-work in the centre, 
one at each side, and divide by the linen insertion of 
drawn work. This work is fully described in No. III. 
of Tilton's Art-Needlework. Fringe out the top and bot- 
tom of your work for a depth of four inches, and knot it. 

Any of these patterns can be done in outline, or with 
fewer shades, — each flower in one shade, but the different 
flowers varying. Many of these patterns would answer 
for a counterpane, especially the poppies in No. 18. They 
would look well in the squares of a counterpane where 
there are alternate raised squares. Scatter the poppies 
in the plain squares, and work the border across the top. 

Many of th^se designs can be worked in square panels 
for the border of a curtain or the dado of a room, with 
special borders to each of black velvet ribbon attached 
with yellow filoselle in herring-bone stitch. The skill of 
the worker can adapt them to many uses. 



12 OUTLINE DESIGNS FOR ART-NEEDLEWORK, 
FIRST SERIES. 

No. I. DWARF ARCTOTIS, 

Yellow flowers : the under part, dark reddish yellow j 
buds, the same ; middles, very dark brownish purple, with 
light-brown ring ; leaves, rather light. 

The tricolor arctotis can be worked from this pattern 
also : the flowers, white ; reverse side of petals, purple ; bud, 
purple ; any inside petals of th6 same which show, white ', 
yellow ring inside the purple centj-e. This pattern would 
be useful across the top of a curtain, making a border of 
the same across the lower part. Be careful that the colors, 
especially the purples, are not too vivid. 

No. 2. MOUNTAIN DAFFODIL. 

White flowers S'haded with gray ; the extreme lights, iri 
linen thread or raw siJk ; the sheath from which they 
grow, very pale brown, shading off into rather light green 
for stalks. Leaves, medium : these can be outlined with 
double wool. 

No. 3. DAHLIA. 

The lower half of banner-screen : Dahlias, red ; the 
lines down each petal, of a darker shade ; stalks, light 
reddish purple ; leaves, green. Butterfly, in fine brown 
silk. 

Na. 4, CLEMATIS; 

Clematis for the centre of chaise lojigne, or small draw- 
ing-room chair, gx frie-dieu chair : The flowers are white, 
shaded with greenish gray ; the tips of the petal, in white 
linen thread ; the leaves, in two shades o^ olive-green, or 
dark and light gray-green ; pale-yellow centre-spots. This 
pattern is very beautiful on dark-green serge. The pat- 
tern is divided into two parts, as there is not room on the 
sheet for it in height. ■ 



OUTLIXE DESIGNS FOR ART-NEEDLEWORK. 13 
No. 5. PEACH-BLOSSOM. 

Peach-blossom border for five-o'clock tea-cloth : The 
centres are deeper pink than the outside of the petal ; the 
stamens, yellow ; the five narrow leaves round them are 
pale green ; medium-green leaves. 

If you use this pattern for a chair-back, add a border 
above and beneath ; or else cut a lengthw^ay slit about half 
an inch deep and one inch from the border, pull out the 
threads, button-hole the cut to prevent unravelling, and 
cross three threads of linen back over the preceding three 
\hreads.^ 

No. 6. CHERRY. 

Tea-cosey r Red cherries and green leaves ; green 
stalks, some with a pink shade. This could be adapted 
for a chair-back. 



SECOND SERIES. 
No. 7. 

Black-Spotted nemophila for blottlng-book : Blue flow- 
ers ; the beginning of the petal, black; the stamens are 
yellow ; the anther (or little head), red ; stalks and leaves, 
green. Work in tapestry-wool or crewels : the former 
makes the flowers raised from the work, as it is about the 
thickness of single Berlin wool, 

No. 8. 

Carnage blanket or screen ; Oblong-leaved cistus. 
This flower is a rose-pink color, with rather dark-green 
leaves ; stamen, yellow ; stalks, brownish green ; leaves, 
green, 

1 This is describsd in detail, with illusirations, itt Art-N^edlework No. III. 



14 OUTLINE DESIGNS FOR ART-NEEDLEWORK. 

No. 9. 

Chair-back : Blue corn-flower. The flower has to be 
drawn in a conventional manner for the convenience of 
working. The color of the flower-leaves is too well known 
to need a description. This is also a good pattern for a 
perambulator-cover. One of these bunches would answer 
for a blotting-book ; or they might be scattered over a 
counterpane. 

No. 10. 

Cushion of blue morning-glory, or ipomcea. The bells 
of the flower are very pale yellow ; the petals, blue ; dark- 
green leaves. This is not to be treated as the convol- 
vulus. 

NOS, II AND 12. 

Roses shaded from white, through salmon-pink, to red, 
five shades; centres yellow, two shades. A bordereau be 
added as with No. i, if it is desirable to widen the pattern. 
The top of the roses is only copied once : after the first 
time, you repeat from the third rose. 



THIRD SERIES. 
No. 13. SIBERIAN FLAX. 

This is a very quick and easy pattern arranged for a 
lawn-tennis costume in blue and white flannel, made as 
follows : The blue skirt kilted, and let it be quite two 
inches from the ground, with a scarf across it of white, 
put on in folds ; edge the upper part with the border, or 
you can have a simple fish-wife tunic edged with the same. 
The body is v/hite, yoke-shaped, and is cut for a slight 
figure ; the cuffs can be cither plain blue flannel or white, 
trimmed with a piece of the border. It is almost prettier 



OUTLINE DESIGNS FOR ART-XEEDLEIVORK. 1 5 

not to have a pocket for the balls made in the dress, but 
to have a separate bag or pouch with a band attached to 
fasten round the waist. The shoes can be kept in this 
bag. when not playing, and it is a nice way of carrying 
them to garden-parties. 

Only one side of the front of yoke body is given : the 
other must be precisely the same ; only reverse the pat- 
tern. Copy it by holding the given one up to the light, or 
trace it through by marking from the wrong instead of the 
right side. 

Though a very simple pattern, with little work in it, it 
is, nevertheless, very pretty for a fair girl, and can be used 
for any other dress quite as well as a tennis costume ; for 
instance, the dress-trimming in No. 6 is more suitable for 
dark ladies, making the skirt of red flannel ; and the flax 
is pretty for an evening dress on white satin, thus : Do 
the border as given ; then powder the rest with bunches of 
flax in the same style as the poppies. 

Be sure that the blue wool and the blue flannel are a 
good match. No shading is required for the small amount 
of leaf, and very little for the flowers. 

No. 14. TOBACCO-FLOWER. 

The leaves are deep green, the flowers pink, the sta- 
mens yellow, the surrounding ring light green, the tube 
light-green, the cup and stalk green. The tip of each 
flower-petal is edged with deeper pink. Work in filoselle 
or embroidery-silk upon" black satin. It is best to have 
the coat cut out by a tailor, and embroider it before it is 
made up, as even the best workers are apt to pucker satin 
a little. 

Slippers can be made to match. The pattern is useful 
for many purposes. 



1 6 OUTLINE DESIGNS FOR ART-AEEDLEWORK. 
No. 15. MYRTLE AND MAIDENHAIR. 

The parasol must be black satin, and can be worked 
when already made up if preferred. IVIerely pick out the 
threads at the edge which join the lining, and cover to- 
gether. It must be owned that the work is somewhat 
cumbersome and inconvenient. The flowers are worked 
in white silk, and the stamens in brown and yellow; the 
stalk of fern in dark-brown sewing-silk, and the fern itself 
all one shade of green filoselle or embroidery ; the right- 
hand fern very dark, the left lighter ; the myrtle-leaves 
dark green. 

No. 16. COWSLIP AND PRIMROSE. 

, The centre of these leaves is darker than the edofes. 
They are very similar in every way, and the contrasting 
shades of the deep-yellow cowslip and the paler yellow 
primrose are very pleasant. The usual size of a table- 
cloth is two yards square; but, as these so-called high-art 
table-cloths are generally used for small tables, it is best 
to use the width of the stuff square. Moss or myrtle 
green serge is recommended. 

The border looks best with the line outlined in very 
dark-brown, and the primrose in pale silk. All the prim- 
rose-flowers must be done in silk, the cowslips also, but 
the lea\^es in wool. The small five-o'clock tea-cloth. No. 5 
in First Series, is very pretty on serge for an occasional 
table: but treat the blossoms as pear; that is, all white, 
with dark-yellow and brown stamens. The v/hite blos- 
soms on green serge look especially well. 

The stalks of primroses have a pinkish-purple tint. 

No. 17. POMEGRANATE. 

This fruit, so much used in ornamental designs both in 
old and modern days, is not particularly adapted for color- 



OUTLINE DESIGNS FOR ART-NEEDLEIVORK. 17 

ino;: therefore work in two or three shades of old srold 
upon either silk, sheeting, or white satin, and merely out- 
line the bars in the centre of each pomegranate, or the 
leaves may be done in dull green. 

It is a handsome pattern for working as a border to 
a portiere on dark-red velvet or cloth, in old gold, or for a 
serge table-cloth. 

No. 18. POPPIES. 

This design is meant for a scarf in white satin for an 
evening dress, arranged as a tablier, and the end falling 
straight down behind. Two yards and a half are suffi- 
cient. The width of the satin is deep enough for the 
scarf. Draw the design from the right-hand side, doing 
as much as will go round the hips ; then the end of the 
satin which has to fall straight down must have the em- 
broidery worked the other way, or else the flowers would 
be wrong side up. There will have to be loops or puffs at 
.the back where the beginning of the scarf is hidden, and 
these puffs hide the change in the formation" of the flow- 
ers. The border must be drawn along the edge of the 
satin which falls . behind ; that is, the border must be 
worked on the width of the satin, not down each side of 
it. The front part of the scarf, of course, has the border 
the other way. This may sound rather complicated in 
print, but will easily be understood if the satin scarf is 
folded round in its proper shape before beginning to draw 
upon it, and pins are put where the embroidery is to 
begin and end ; for you do not want any on parts which 
will be hidden in the folds. 

Use about four shades of red for your poppies ; the cen- 
tres, light green, and the stamens, black ; stalks, green ; 
buds, grayish green. 



1 8 OUTLINE DESIGXS FOR ART-NEEDLEWORK. 

Or work each poppy of one shade only, varying the 
shades with the different flowers. 

The body can be embroidered with the powdering, and 
the sleeves too. But it is not necessary to have a satin 
body to the dress : the dress may equally well be a silk 
or net one. However, this is a matter of individual taste. 
It is as well to embroider the satin shoes with a bunch of 
poppies. 

This pattern is pretty enough for any use, especially 
for a counterpane as recommended on p. 1 1. 



FOURTH SERIES. 
No. 19. HOPS AND OX-EYED DAISIES. 

The hop itself is very light green : outline the shape in 
a darker color. The leaves are rather dark green. The 
daisies to be done in raw silk shaded with white and gray 
wool ; the centre, bright yellow. 

The old-fashioned marble-topped chiffonniere can be 
modernized by having panels on either serge or satin, and 
covering the marble top with the same, edging the border 
with a fringe, and working any flower upon the border : 
small bunches of daisies are pretty. Such panels are very 
pretty for screens or any piece of furniture. 

This design is for the doors instead of mirrors. 

No. 20. CROWN IMPERIAL. 

This conventional design is meant for a fancy chair of 
ebony wood. The flowers are yellow ; the leaves an ordi- 
nary green, but, as they often lie over each other, you must 
do the back ones in a brownish tint to give distinctness ; 
the stalk, brownish green. 

The flowers are also sometimes seen of a deep orange- 
color. 



OUTLINE DESIGNS FOR ART-NEEDLEWORK. 19 
Nos. 21 AND 22. VIOLETS FOR TENNIS APRON. 

The violet is one of those flowers with which every 
worker is well acquainted, and consequently little verbal 
description is necessary ; but remember the centre is 
bright yellow, and the tiny leaves coming from it are 
white or blue. 

The apron must be worked upon crewel-linen of a strong 
kind. If an ecru-colored material be used, the violets look 
very well white. The front and back are gathered into a 
band fastening at the side, and the body fastens with hook 
and eye at the shoulder. 

The width of apron is from thirty-six to thirty-eight 
inches. The selvage of the stuff can be left, as most 
materials are about that width. The length is about one 
inch more than the breadth. 

Leave six and a half inches at the waist, between the 
back and front, for the arms. The two large pockets are 
sewn at even distances on the front of the apron. 

For a separate pocket, or pouch, to hold the balls, 
work one side, and have the other plain ; attach holland 
suspenders, and a band to fasten round the waist. A 
separate pocket is very convenient when playing. 

The border had to be divided, owing to limited space ; 
but, for the convenience of tracing, you can cut them off 
the page, and tack together. There is a good deal of work 
in this pattern ; but it is very pretty, and looks very well 
on a cashmere dress also. 

The border would be pretty for a table-cloth. 

No. 23. CYCLAMEN. 

The centre of the leaves is darker green than the sur- 
rounding part ; the flower itself is a delicate waxen pink, 
with a deeper shade in the centre ; the little round is a 
vivid crimson color. 



20 OUTLINE DESIGNS FOR ART-NEEDLEWORK. 

Draw the pattern either along the front of the toilet- 
cover (which had better be made of white or slightly tinted 
linen), or along each side. If, however, you wish to work 
both front and sides, draw one group at the corners first ; 
then arrange the rest : as, if you leave the corner of any 
square thing until after the side is done, it generally hap- 
pens that the corner does not come even. This pattern is 
suitable for a table-cloth. 

The boot-bag, as shown above the cyclamen, is very 
useful, and easily made. A narrow lath of wood must be 
inserted at the upper part, with two brass rings for hang- 
ing to the wall. It can be made any size ; but either four 
or six compartments is the usual allowance. 

A back for wash-hand stand can be made to match ; the 
measurement fifty inches long, and twenty-two broad. 
Fringe out two inches at the lower edge ; hem the other 
edges. 

No. 24. LILIES. 

Flowers, white shaded with gray ; towards the stalk, 
blend gradually into light green ; stamens, light green ; 
anthers, bright yellow ; the pistil (or large centre column), 
light green ; the stigma (or head), the same. The leaves 
are not shaded ; bud, green ; branch, brownish green ; and 
the under leaves, yellow-green. 

No. 25. PEACOCK FEATHER. 

Useful for many purposes, screens, chair-backs, &c., &c. 

The fibres of what is called the shaft of the feather - 
should be done in shades of dark olive-green, varied with 
one shade in each ; a good effect is produced by intro- 
ducing a silk thread of metallic green in the needle with 
the olive-green, and working the two together. For fibres 
as large as in the pattern, two rows are required. To assist 



OUTLINE DESIGNS EOR ART~NEEDLE\VORK. 21 

in varying these rows, it is a great help to have a real 
feather to study. 

For the closer head of the feather, what is called "the 
eye " should be worked as shown in the two central shades 
of the design, with dark blue and black silk, — either em- 
broidery-silk or filosselle, — spots of black and of blue, as are 
plainly seen in a real feather; the third shades from the 
centre in bright metallic-green silk. Outside of this, 
shades of brownish-oliva crewels, growing darker towards 
the edge. Outside of this, a row of deeper olive in silk, 
with a row of purple in silk; the spreading fibres to be 
done in varying shades of olive crewels, a little darker than 
those on the shaft, but varied in the same way. 

No. 26. STORK AND CAT-TAILS. 

Suitable for screen or large chair-back. The stork 
should be done in shaded white ; the shades put in with 
gray and black. Too much shading should be avoided, 
but can be made as the markings indicate in the design. 
The legs and bill should be done in red ; the top-knot 
black. 

For the cat-tails, the leaves should be olive-green in no 
great variety of shade, the darker shades used for the 
turnings of the leaves. The heads should be done in deep 
brown ; the tips, of olive-green, like the stem, lighter than 
the leaves, but of the same color. 

Outlines for the water and distance should be merely 
indicated in shades of gray, with straight lines for the 
water. 

No. 27. HORSESHOE AND PANSIES. 

Table-cloth. If the horseshoe is used for the centre, 
the pansies should be done mostly in yellow, with faint 
purple stripes. The upper, back petals could be done in 



22 OUTLINE DESIGNS FOR ART-NEEDLEWORK. 

dark purple ; the leaves of a dull green. The horseshoe 
itself would look well put on in applique, of a dull gold, or 
gold-brown satin ; in which case the satin should be secured 
to the cloth with fine sewing-silk of the same color, and 
afterwards the edge worked over with button-hole stitch 
of the same color, or a very little darker shade of the 
color ; or an edging of cord of a darker shade could be 
used to secure it.^ Or the horseshoe can be worked all 
over with crewels or silks, of old gold or gold-brown. 

In either case, great care should be taken in choosing 
the yellows for the flowers. Only a certain tint of yellow 
can be used with the old gold in the horseshoe ; but, if care- 
fully chosen, the effect will be good. 

The flowers should be deep yellow; the centres dark 
brown, worked in T^rench knots ; the leaves of a dark' 
green. 

The ground of the table-cloth should be a light, dull 
olive-green. 

The horseshoe pattern can be used for other purposes. 
It could be worked on satin for a hand-screen, or the centre 
of a mantle-piece Lambrequin. 

The border could be worked for a table-cloth, without 
the centre, in shades of purple. Do not attempt in either 
case to shade tlie petals, but vary the shades in the differ- 
ent petals that touch each other, working, if necessary, 
the edges a little darker and the centre lighter. 

No. 28. ORANGE AND BLOSSOMS, — STRIPE FOR CHAIR. 

This would be very effective on any material, linen or 
woollen. The oranges should be done in concentric circles 
of close stitch in deep shades of orange ; the leaves, of a 

1 Careful directions for applique work are given in No. I. Tilton's Needlework 
Series, pp, 45, 46. 



OUTLINE DESIGNS FOR ART-NEEDLEWORK. 23 

dull green, without effort at shading, except that the under 
side of the leaves should be done of a lighter shade, and 
one leaf can differ from another ; the open blossoms to be 
done in white (white floss would be advisable), the under 
sides of a light grayas a shade of white; the stamens a 
soft yellow. The pattern can be continued, or ended at 
the collection of three leaves near the top. 

No. 29. JAPANESE DESIGNS. 

These larger designs are for the corners of a tea table- 
cloth, and should be done in shades of blue. They can 
be etched very finely with blue marking cotton or linen, 
or they can be done with the split threads of filoselle or 
with fine crewels, if used on woollen materials. 

No. 30. JAPANESE DESIGNS, 

For doyleys these are to be used singly, each for the 
centre of a doyley, or for the corner of a napkin. On 
fine linen these should be done with fine blue marking- 
thread. On coarse material, or crash, or Java canvas, 
shades of blue embroidery-cotton or filoselle, split, should 
be used. If a variety in color is desired, the fans on the 
tea-cloth and the doyleys could be done in deep red or 
brown ; but the shades of blue are usually considered 
more suitable. 

These little patterns, however, can be used for various 
purposes : the larger ones might be worked on any mate- 
rial desired for hand-screens ; the smaller ones could be 
worked on woollen cloth in bright colors for pen-wipers. 
In this case, after working cut out the cloth into shape, 
button-hole the edge, make chamois and black velvet 
leaves for the pen-wiper ; use a stiff paper for the under 
edge, and handles of card-board or straw tied together 



24 OUTLINE DESIGNS FOR ART-NEEDLEWORK. 

with ribbon. The doyleys should be fringed, and a 
border of drawn work, puiito tirato, worked above the 
fringe. This is described in the directions for No. 5, also, 
with various patterns in No. III. of Tilton's Needlework 
Series. 



i_ii£5T o:f^ 



TRANSPARENT EMBROIDERY PATTERNS. 

Published by S. W. TILTON & CO., Boston. 



Price, 30 Cents each. Sent by mail to any address, 

in ordering from this list, state name as well as number of pattern desired. 
Each pattern is enclosed in an envelope with directions for use and colors. 
A suggestion is made for the use of each pattern, but they can be used for other purposes as well. 

1. Dwarf Arctotis Mantelpiece Dorder 9 in. wide 

2. White Mountain DaiFodlll Chair-Back 14 x 19 in 

3. Dahlia Banner-Screen 11 x 15 in 

4. Clematis Chair 8 x 21 in 

5. Peach Blossom Tka-Cloth 5 in. wide 

6. Cherry Tba-Cosey 9 x 16 in 

7. Black-Spotied Nemophylla Blotting-Bocjk 8 x 10 in 

8. Cistus Cakriage-Bi.anket 14 x 18 in 

9. Cornflower Chair-Back 13 x 19 in 

10. Morning Glory, Ipomcea Cushion 12 x 15 in 

12' Roses j Double Design Curtain 8 x 30 in 

13. Flax Lawn-Tennis Costume 

14. Tobacco Flower Smoking Coat 

15. Myrtle and Maidenhair Parasol 

16. Cowslip and Primrose Table-Cloth 6 in. wide. 

17. Pomegranate Border 7 in. wide. 

18 Poppies and Corn Evening Dress . . ., 

19. Hops and Ox-Eyed Daisies Panel 12 x 20 in. 

20. Crown Imperial Chair Seat 13 x 13 in. 

22' Violets I Double Design Lawn-Tennis Apron 

23. Cyclamen Toilet-Cover, &c 6 x 13 in. 

24. Lilies Panel 13 x 20 in. 

25. Peacock's Feather 8 x 20 in 

26. Stork and Cat-Tails 13 x 20 in. 

27. Horse-Shoe and Border ofPansies 4 in. wide. 

28. Oranges and Blossoms 7x20 in. 

29. Japanese Design, Four Corners of Tea-Cloth 12 x 20 in. 

30. Japanese Design for D'Oyleys. 



These Patterns are also for sale, printed on paper, in packages of six, at 75 cents each package, and 
are made up as follows ; — First Series, from No. i to No. 6, inclusive ; Second Series, from No. 7 to 
No. 12, inclusive, &c. 

Any of the above designs are for sale on paper colored by hand, for a working pattern. Price, 
30 cents. 

S. W. TILTON & CO., Publishers, Boston. 



/'Tilton's Needlework Series. 



j. . ^*. , No:. I. 

ART-N,R^X.EWORK FOR DECORATIVE EMBROI- 

. ■ DE1<,Y^ a I Guide to Embroidery in Crewels, Silks. 'A^)p,lrqj|^ 

Jfec, witft illjLiStoted instructions as to Stitches, .Satin Stiteh aha 

■ .'^'outh KensijitMon Stitch., Also several designs for Pa^t,erns. 

■ Edited by EucRETiA 1'. H.^'le. , Price. . -, . . ^I"". . .... 50 ct-.. 

X... 11. 

ART-NEEDLEWORK.— POINT LACE With illustrations 
of Stitches and Valua:ble Patterns. .■''' By.'iLucRETlA: P. Hale. 
Price '..... . ' 50 cts. 

No. III. 

ART-NEEDLEWORK, MORE STITCHES FOR DECO- 

,.j,, liATIVE EMBROIDERY. Containing Holbein, Punto, Tirato 
... f (drawn work), "V^ienna Cross Stitch,, -JDouble .Platt Stitch, and' 
Cordonnet, and eighty illustrations and patterns. By Lu(iRETiA 
P. Hale. Price 50 cts. 

" . No. IV. 

• ' f't . ■ 

PLAIN NEEDLEWORK, MENDING, KNITTING, AND 

P)ARNING FOR ALL, at Home and iu Schools; giving in- 
struction ill Plain Sewing, &c., the Management of Classes, with 
twenty illustrations. Compiled from the best English works on 
these subtects, with some additional suggestions by the Ametican 
editor. Edited by Lucr'etia P. Hale. Price .i. 50 cts. 

r':^ Decorative Sit f)OOKS. 

Qreek OrN/VMENT. Illustrated with twelve -plates- printed in 
the oifiginal colors, edited by Win, R. Ware, Professor of Architeftutte 
in the Massachusetts Iiistifute of Techn ilogy . . . .'.^i.oo' 

Cj^ineseLand Japanese Decorative Ornament. In prep- 
aratiiiii. 

Flaxman's Outline Designs of the Human Fujurk; Illus- 
trating Greciai^ and'Roman-' Mythology. 1st series. 20 Designs in a ^ 

Portfolio, size 3 to 4 by 5 to 7 inches 1.00 

. Greek Vases, t^eir Syst^i of Form and Decoration, with twelve 
plates, printed in ccflors . ..■*........■.;••••'■•••• 2.50 

>:,jilNTS to|Chinaand TlLE Dg^ORAToRS. Llluslrated with forty 
of tTie' principal designs liied liy'-Wellgev^ood .' • • i fi^-, ... 50,; ,' 

Designs amd Instructions fo^J^coratin'g Botxjeky .... 50 

The Art of Sketching" I;'Rp^5^I|^'^'^'' ^V Thp*as Rov, 
both3m_^ With :27 IHustrations ."'.'■. .'J,'\ ^^^J. .■ : . .\ .' . '. . .50 
Art Recreations. A complete-guide to Ornamental Work . . . 2.06' 

Sent by mail, to any .address, on receipt of price. 

S. W. TILTON & CO., Boston, Publishers. 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS Wm 




014 145 691 A 



